The Hague - British-born lawyer Richard Harvey was appointed defence counsel for former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic in Karadzic's war crimes trial, an international court in The Hague announced on Friday.

In its decision to appoint Harvey, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) said Karadzic, 64, refused to pick a particular lawyer on the list presented to him.

Karadzic, who is representing himself at the UN-sponsored hearings, faces 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including two counts of genocide for acts allegedly committed during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War.

On November 5, the ICTY decided to appoint an attorney for Karadzic on grounds that the Bosnian Serb leader "substantially and persistently obstructed" trial proceedings.

The decision came after Karadzic refused to attend hearings since his trial opened on October 26, claiming he was not given enough time to prepare himself.

In its ruling to appoint an attorney, the chamber also said the trial would not resume until March 1, to give the appointed counsel time to prepare.

Speaking to reporters earlier this week, an ICTY spokesman said the appointment of a defence counsel to Karadzic would not imply the accused had lost his right to represent himself.

Karadzic's newly appointed lawyer is also lead counsel to Lahi Brahimaj, a former member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) staff, whose case is pending final judgement before the ICTY appeals chamber.

Previously, Harvey worked as co-counsel for Haradin Bala, a former KLA-camp guard the ICTY sentenced to 13 years imprisonment in September 2007.

Karadzic has appealed the decision to appoint an attorney for him.

He is alleged to have orchestrated the 1992-1995 siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre in 1995, when Bosnian Serb forces brutally killed some 8,000 men after taking over the Muslim enclave declared a United Nations safe area.

He was first indicted in 1995, but remained at large until Serbian authorities arrested him in July 2008, transferring him to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. (dpa)