won't be hungry anymore.' He slit the child's throat in front of everybody."

As the war ended in the fall of 1995, Mladic went on the run. Over the years, he eluded authorities while his cohort, Karadzic, was apprehended and is facing various charges at the court in The Hague. Their mentor, former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, died in jail in 2006 during his trial at The Hague.

Eventually, more than 16 years later, he was captured an hour's drive from the Serbian capital living on a farm with a cousin. World leaders and human rights groups described the arrest as "historic" and "an important step forward."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called it a "historic day for international justice. This arrest marks an important step in our collective fight against impunity."Interpol called Mladic "Europe's most wanted war crimes suspect" while Amnesty International's law chief Widney Brown said "at last the people who suffered have hope he will be brought to justice."

The arrest meant a major hurdle that once stood between Serbia and its long-awaited entrance into the European Union was overcome, but the trial could also usher in political backlash from the country's electorate, some of whom consider Mladic a hero.

Speaking to a Serbian Radical Party demonstration outside Belgrade's parliament building immediate after the arrest, Darko Mladic described his father as "a freedom fighter." The elder Mladic "defended his own nation, defended his people, which was his job," his son said.

His family and lawyer have tried to use his poor health to prevent his extradition to the International