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IN his first appearance before the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague on Thursday, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic resurrected the claim that there was a secret deal with the United States not to prosecute him in return for a promise to disappear from public life. While much has been known about the massacre at Srebenica and the siege of Sarajevo through the thousands of witness statements, military documents, and forensic evidence presented at the other trials at the Hague Tribunal, there is no doubt that his trial will prove illuminating, reveal many secrets and shed new light on what happened on the killing fields of Bosnia.

It may even clear up the mystery of how he was able to escape capture and prosecution for his role in the atrocities when there has been an international warrant for his arrest for 13 years. It's true, of course, that the different image and identity he had forged made it harder to finger him. But then again, the timing and manner of his arrest suggests that it was not the failure of intelligence but a distinct lack of political will that has allowed him to remain in hiding. Whatever the case may be, it's better late than never. And now that investigators in Belgrade have blown Karadzic's cover in double-quick time, they should lose no time in snaring the butcher of Bosnia, Ratko Mladic. It will certainly do Serbia's bid for a seat in the European Union a whole world of good, though it may not go down too well with the many Serbs who still see them as heroes.

Indeed, there is little to suggest that the trial will significantly change the way the Serbs see themselves. Although the turnout in the streets of Belgrade on Tuesday to protest his extradition was not as large or as violent as the rally in February, it suggests that many Serbs remain as defiant and unrepentant as Karadzic was at The Hague over the killings in Bosnia. And as much as one would hope his trial and conviction would provide some sort of closure for the victims, it is feared that the memories are too strong and the scars too deep for this to happen. Even now, bodies are still being unearthed and names added to the list of the dead in Srebenica. However, while it may not heal the wounds, in the interest of justice, this mastermind of the genocide in Bosnia must pay for his crimes against humanity.

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