Lawyers acting for Radovan Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb leader facing trial on genocide charges in The Hague, called on the court to drop the case against him on Monday due to a purported immunity deal he made with Richard Holbrooke, the former US peace envoy.

Mr Karadzic, who was extradited last year after 13 years on the run, has previously aired the claim that Mr Holbrooke assured him of immunity from prosecution in 1996 but is now seeking to force the court to call Mr Holbrooke as a witness and resolve whether the agreement existed.