Serb nationalist not in court as trial to start

THE HAGUE, Nov 27 (Reuters) Serbian ultranationalist leader Vojislav Seselj refused to appear for a procedural hearing at the UN war crimes tribunal today, possibly delaying the start of his trial again.

Seselj, 52, faces charges of persecution, extermination, murder and torture of Croats, Muslims and other non-Serbs, and is accused of plotting crimes with former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who died in March.

His repeatedly-delayed trial had been due to start today after a procedural hearing, but the registry's spokesman said in court: ''This morning I was informed...that Mr Seselj does not want to attend these proceedings.'' Seselj is on a hunger strike and continues to refuse food and medication provided by the detention unit but was drinking water, he added.

The court will decide whether the trial will start later in the day without Seselj. In that case he would be represented by a stand-by defence counsel, which had been assigned to him earlier due to his disruptive behaviour in court.

Despite the trial, Seselj is the principal candidate of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) in a parliamentary election in January.

Critics have said his hunger strike is an attempt to boost his party's ratings.

He began his hunger strike more than two weeks ago demanding free choice of legal counsel, the unconditional right to defend himself and unrestricted visits by his wife.

Seselj's supporters say he has already had to wait too long for his trial and accuse the court of bias against Serbs. Critics say Seselj is deliberately delaying the trial.

Seselj, a former political science lecturer in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, surrendered to the UN court in 2003 and has pleaded innocent to the charges against him.

REUTERS PB BD1536