Radovan Karadzic trial becomes a battle over timing

Perhaps not surprisingly Radovan Karadzic has been a reluctant participant in this trial.

The former leader of the Bosnian Serbs has appeared just a few times, regularly boycotting the process.

But at his most recent appearance last November he complained bitterly about the workload he faced.

Conducting his own defence, Mr Karadzic said he had had to deal with more than a million pages of legal documents sent to him by the prosecution.

He demanded more time to prepare his case - a request the judges agreed to.

But prosecutors believe he is adopting the tactics of his old mentor Slobodan Milosevic, who managed to string his trial out for four years.

In the end, of course, Milosevic was found dead in his cell in March 2006.

His campaign of delay and postponement frustrated prosecutors and undermined the credibility of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).