Radovan Karadzic on Friday claimed Richard Holbrooke, the US Bosnia peace negotiator, promised to quash his war crimes indictment if he stepped down from public life, but then hatched a plot to murder him when the deal fell apart.

The former Bosnian Serb leader, who was extradited to the Netherlands this week after 13 years on the run, made the allegations in a written submission to the court following his first appearance in the chamber on Thursday.