General Talic was arrested in a surprise swoop in Vienna in 1999

Hundreds were killed and many were interned in appalling conditions in camps at Omarska and Keraterm.

At the time of the alleged crimes in 1992, Mr Brdjanin and General Talic were members of the Autonomous Region of Krajina Crisis Staff - a committee which, according to the prosecution, was set up by Mr Karadzic and General Mladic to co-ordinate the ethnic cleansing campaign.

Mr Brdjan is also accused of using the media, which was under his control, to urge Bosnian Serbs to "commmit crimes against their neighbours under the banner of defending the Serbian people".

Surprise arrests

Mr Brdjan and General Talic were both arrested in 1999 under sealed indictments - a controversial practice operated by the Hague tribunal to try to arrest suspects before they go underground.

Mr Brdjan was picked up by Nato-led troops in the Bosnian Serb town of Banja Luka.

General Talic was arrested in a swoop while attending a conference in Vienna organised by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

At his first court appearance two years ago, General Talic challenged the jurisdiction of the tribunal and said he could only receive a fair trial in a military court.

Last year the tribunal secured its first conviction for genocide - the most serious of war crimes - in the trial of former Bosnian Serb general, Radislav Krstic.

He was found guilty over the massacre of thousands of Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica and sentenced to 46 years in prison.

But officials have so far failed to detain the tribunal's two most wanted suspects, Mr Karadzic and General Mladic, who are also indicted on genocide.

Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has already been charged for his alleged role in the Bosnian genocide.