Bosnian Serb ex-army chief Ratko Mladic, who faces charges for his part in some of the worst atrocities in Europe since World War II, will go on trial in May, a UN court said Wednesday.

Mladic, 69, faces war crimes court judges on 11 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the 1990s Balkans conflict which claimed the lives of some 100,000 people.

"The trial shall commence on Monday, 14 May 2012, with the opening statement of the prosecution," the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) said in a document filed before the court.

This will be followed by an opening statement by the defence, if any, and by Mladic himself, "if he so wishes," the Hague-based court said, adding the trial proper will then start on May 29.

"We are ready for trial," Frederick Swinnen, special advisor to ICTY chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz told AFP on Wednesday.

Mladic was arrested in May last year in northeastern Serbia for his part in Bosnia's 1992-95 war after being on the run for 16 years.

The charges against the man referred to as "The Butcher of Bosnia" include genocide for masterminding the massacre at Srebrenica in July 1995 in which more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys were murdered over a six-day period.

Mladic is also accused in the 44-month siege of Sarajevo that started in May 1992 and claimed an estimated 10,000 lives.

The prosecution said forces under Mladic's command conducted a "campaign of terror" against civilians by shelling and sniping at them.

He is also charged for men under his command taking hostage over 200 UN peacekeepers and military observers, keeping them in strategic positions as protection against NATO airstrikes.

Mladic has pleaded not guilty.

During a hearing on December 8, he told the court: "I am sorry for every innocent that was killed on all sides, in all ethnic communities in Yugoslavia."

"In the name of peace and justice, I no longer want to hear the word 'war'," Mladic said.

The court initially announced the trial could start on March 27, but "decided to postpone it to allow all the parties time to complete any outstanding pre-trial preparations," the ICTY said in a statement.

Prosecution ready for trial

The prosecution said it would call 410 witnesses, of which 168 were expected to appear in court, and hoped to present around 27,906 exhibits.

Mladic's defence has previously requested that the trial start in October, allowing it to review all evidence in the case given by the prosecution.

It also asked that Mladic's health, a constant cause of complaint by the former general since his arrival at the ICTY's detention unit in a nearby suburb, be considered.

The court however was "not convinced that the accused's health condition requires modification of the daily and weekly sitting schedule, namely sitting less than five days per week and for shorter court sessions," it said.

It did however grant the defence's request to schedule morning court sessions "although no medical reason has been established."

The court is keen to avoid the legal process becoming bogged down, aware that the late Serb strongman Slobodan Milosevic evaded justice when he suffered a fatal heart attack in 2006 before his war crimes trial concluded.

(Source: AFA)