This is the face of Bosnia's captured butcher

Victims of the "Butcher of Bosnia" Ratko Mladic today saw the first photograph of him in detention as efforts to extradite him on war crime charges continued.

A police picture of the ex-Bosnian Serb general, accused of leading the massacre of nearly 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, shows him looking pale and greatly aged.

Mladic, now 69, was last seen in Belgrade in 2002.
As tensions rose across the Balkans, Serbian authorities ordered a ban on public gatherings in Belgrade and security was raised to the highest level across the country.

Last night more than 700 Mladic supporters gathered to demonstrate in Belgrade and Novi Sad following his dramatic arrest by security forces early yesterday. Police were forced to disperse crowds to prevent rioting and 35 people were arrested.

The new picture - of a clean-shaven Mladic wearing a baseball cap - was released as his wife Bosiljka and son Darko walked into the Belgrade court where a hearing to approve his extradition to The Hague to face war crime charges was taking place today.

Officials said they expect him to be removed to the Dutch city, where the UN war crimes tribunal sits, within a week, despite claims by his lawyer that Mladic is unfit to take part in any legal process.

His initial extradition hearing yesterday was adjourned and lawyer Milos Saljic said: "The judge had to end questioning as Mladic is in serious condition. He is hardly responsive." Today's hearing follows his arrest in the village of Lazarevo, 60 miles north-east of Belgrade, by three units of Serbian special forces.

The former general had two guns but put up no resistance. The single-storey house is owned by a relative of Mladic and had been under surveillance for the past two weeks.

In a sign of continuing support for him in the area a BBC crew filming in the village was today confronted by a man swearing and baring his fists, while other residents also spoke in favour of the alleged war criminal.

But officials insisted the extradition will continue and claim the health issue is a delaying tactic. Their move is intended to boost Serbia's chances of entry into the European Union and remove what president Boris Tadic calls a stain on the nation's history.

Deputy war crimes prosecutor Bruno Vekaric said: "What's important is that Mladic's identity is established. It now depends on whether his defence will launch appeals but a maximum deadline for his extradition is a week."

Mladic was commander of the Bosnian Serb army in the 1992-95 war, which killed at least 100,000 people and drove another 1.8 million from their homes. He is accused of genocide and crimes against humanity.