At-a-glance: Karadzic and Mladic

Former Bosnian Serb leader accused of leading slaughter of thousands of Bosnian Muslims and Croats during the 1992-1995 war.

Jointly indicted with Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic was his army chief throughout the Bosnian war.

Born 19 June 1945 in municipality of Savnik, presently Republic of Montenegro, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Medicine graduate; psychologist for Red Star Belgrade football team.

1990: President of the Serbian Democratic Party.

1992: Creates independent Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Hercegovina (later renamed Republika Srpska).

Born 12 March 1942 in municipality of Kalinovik in Republic of Bosnia and Hercegovina.

Trained at military academy of Yugoslav People's Army in Belgrade and becomes regular officer in army.

1992: General Mladic appointed commander of the Bosnian Serb army.

Indicted twice by the United Nations war crimes tribunal at The Hague.

Charges include genocide, extermination, murder and wilful killing, crimes against humanity and deportation.

Forces accused of killing 7,500 Muslim men and boys from Srebrenica in July 1995.

Charged over the shelling of Sarajevo and the use of 284 UN peacekeepers as human shields in May and June 1995.

Indictment includes charges of genocide, extermination, persecution and crimes against humanity.

Considered one of the key figures in siege of Sarajevo and led Serb onslaught against Srebrenica in 1995.

His forces bombarded the city before entering and separating out Muslim men and boys, who were taken away and killed.

Indictment says he "targeted a significant part of the Bosnian Muslim group for intended destruction".

Book published, Miraculous Chronicles of the Night, set in 1980s Yugoslavia.

2001: Disappears when former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic arrested.

2005: Some former aides have surrendered to the war crimes tribunal to face charges of ethnic cleansing.

May 2005: Two sightings reported - with his wife Ljiljana in southeastern Bosnia and with brother in Belgrade.

Now believed to be in mountains of north-west Montenegro, near Niksic - beyond reach of international forces in Bosnia.

Correspondents say network of politicians and security figures have helped shield him.

2005: Head of military intelligence in Serbia and Montenegro says Mr Mladic was sheltered by the army until 2002.

Belgrade is under increased international pressure to arrest both men.