Karadzic claims he had no-trial deal with U.S.

The four-page signed statement — full of outbursts and accusations — goes into greater detail about the deal the former Bosnian Serb leader contends was made with the United States in 1996 to help him evade justice.

He continues his bitter criticisms of the former American envoy, Richard C. Holbrooke, that he outlined during his first appearance before the international tribunal on Thursday, adding that former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright also proposed he drop out of sight by opening a private clinic somewhere abroad.

Albright proposed that "I get out of the way and go to Russia, Greece or Serbia and open a private clinic or at least go to Bijeljina," he wrote in the letter, referring to the city in Bosnia-Hercegovina.

Karadzic appeared before the tribunal on Thursday when he declined to answer charges that he led Bosnia into an ethnic war that turned to genocide. The indictment against him includes a catalog of crimes in a broad swath of places, but most crucial are the three-year siege of Sarajevo, which left more than 10,000 civilians dead, and the mass killings at Srebrenica, where nearly 8,000 unarmed men and boys were executed in a weeklong massacre in July 1995.

In the 75-minute hearing on Thursday, staying mostly low-key with occasional twitches of anger and humor alike, Karadzic repeated old rumors that Holbrooke had brokered the deal with the United States to evade arrest, allegations that his written statement takes further.

"As for me, Mr. Holbrooke undertook on behalf of the U.S.A. that I would not be tried before this tribunal and that I should understand that there would be very sharp rhetoric against me so that my followers would not hamper the implementation of the Dayton agreement," he said in the statement.

Holbrooke denied the accusations.