Karadzic War Crimes Trial Moves A Step Closer

If the court accepts the new charges, Karadzic will then be given 30 days to re-enter a plea.

The trial of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic came a step closer on Monday when he told the U.N. criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia he would reply to amended war crimes and genocide charges by Jan. 28.

The pre-trial preparations at the tribunal, under pressure to wrap up its work by 2010, were delayed in September when the prosecution moved to amend the charges, arguing they would lead to a more efficient trial.

The new indictment contains the same number of charges -- 11, including two of genocide -- but narrows the scope of alleged criminal acts during the 1992-95 Bosnian war and reduces the areas where they were committed, prosecutors said.

In August last year, the pre-trial presiding judge entered a plea of "not guilty" for Karadzic on charges of war crimes and genocide, including the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslims at Srebrenica, after he refused to plea.

If the court accepts the new charges, Karadzic will then be given 30 days to re-enter a plea.

Pre-trial preparations have become bogged down in procedural matters, but could move at a quicker pace following Monday's status hearing.

Karadzic, 63, said he would reply to the prosecution's amended indictment by Jan. 28, having previously refused in October to respond to the proposed amendment, saying the prosecutor had not provided a translation ofsupporting material.

But the prosecution said on Monday all of the supporting material had now been supplied to Karadzic.

"The defence will be in a position to respond in time," said Karadzic, who is representing himself with the help of advisers.

Presiding pre-trial judge Iain Bonomy instructed the prosecution to file its reply within seven days, or by Feb. 4.

Bonomy, who chairs a working group aimed at speeding up tribunal trials, said in October he was disappointed by the slow progress of proceedings.

The trial of former Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosoevic lasted four years and heard almost 300 witnesses before Milosevic died in detention in March 2006, just months before a verdict could be handed down.

Judge Bonomy provisionally set Feb. 19 as the date for Karadzic's next status hearing.

Court officials have declined to indicate when the trial proper is expected to start.