Radovan Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb leader who is now standing trial for war crimes at The Hague in the 43-week siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre, spoke to “The Rageh Omaar Report” on Al-Jazeera. Karadzic, whose trial is about to resume at the International Criminal Court, talks about his life on the run — he went into hiding after his 1995 indictment and was arrested in 2008 — and his hopes for a fair trial, as well as his role during the Bosnian war.

Here’s an excerpt:

“I had a misfortunate role in a misfortunate war in a misfortunate country.

It was a war that we did not want and that we did not need.

It was a war among Serbs, since the Bosnian Muslims are Serbs who adopted Islam under Turkish rule. It was not in our interest to be enemies.

Our clashes are always tragic for all people in Bosnia and beneficial only to third parties.”

In July 1995, at least 8,000 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) men and boys were slaughtered in the largest mass murder since World War II at the U.N.’s “safe haven” of Srebrenica.

(Photo by Serge Ligtenberg/Getty Images)