June 3 (Reuters) - Former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic called charges against him "obnoxious" on Friday as he declined to enter a plea at the U.N. war crimes tribunal.
Here is a timeline of events leading to his arrest.
1992 -- Radovan Karadzic opposes independent Bosnia. Bosnian Serbs declare a republic and lay siege to Sarajevo. Mladic gets command of the Bosnian Serb Army which overruns 70 percent of the country.
1993 -- Hundreds of civilians killed daily in siege of Sarajevo. War erupts between Muslims and Croats.
1994 -- Muslim-Croat war ends. U.S., British, French, German, and Russian "Contact Group" proposes carve-up of Bosnia. Bosnian Serbs reject it and Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic cuts off their aid for blocking a "fair" deal.
1995 -- In May, NATO bombs Karadzic's bunker after Serbs ignore an ultimatum to stow their heavy weapons. Serbs shell a cafe in the U.N. safe area of Tuzla, killing 70.
July 11 - Mladic forces overrun the "safe area" of Srebrenica. In the next 7 days, up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys are killed in the worst atrocity in Europe since World War Two.
July 24 - The United Nations issues indictments against Karadzic and Mladic for genocide citing the siege of Sarajevo.
Aug. 5 - Serb shell hits a Sarajevo market, killing 37. NATO planes and U.N. artillery blast Serb targets in response.
Nov. 16 - The U.N. war crimes tribunal again indicts Karadzic and Mladic, this time for genocide at Srebrenica.
Nov. 21 - A deal struck in Dayton, Ohio, gives Serbs half of Bosnia. They must cooperate with the U.N. war crimes court.
Dec. 5 - NATO allies agree to send in 60,000 peace troops.
2001 -- Milosevic, ousted in 2000, is handed over to the U.N. Tribunal. Chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte starts a new campaign to demand Mladic and Karadzic be arrested.
2004 -- In January NATO and Bosnian Serb police search Pale on a tip that Karadzic needs medical help, but find nothing.
Dec. 16 - NATO says Mladic visited his wartime bunker in summer to celebrate Bosnian Serb Army day.
2005 -- Jan-May - A dozen Serbian generals, including several of Mladic's closest aides, surrender to The Hague to face trial.
December - Fugitive Croat Gen. Ante Gotovina is captured, redoubling pressure on Serbia to catch Mladic. The state warns that anyone aiding Mladic or his helpers will be prosecuted.
2006 -- Army intelligence issues a report revealing that Mladic had been using Serb army premises until mid 2002.
May -- After months of warnings, the European Union suspends talks with Serbia on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement, putting EU membership hopes on hold.
July -- Belgrade court indicts 10 people for helping Mladic hide from 2002 to January 2006. The investigation shows Mladic stayed mostly in the high-rise New Belgrade area of the capital.
2007 -- May-June - Under a new coalition government, the drought of handovers suddenly ends, with the arrest in Bosnia of wanted Mladic aide Zdravko Tolimir.
-- The EU resumes talks but warns Mladic is still wanted.
2008 -- Karadzic is arrested in Belgrade on July 21. Police say the bearded, grey and almost unrecognisable man had been living under a false identity, practising alternative medecine.
2010 -- Serbian police briefly detain Mladic's wife on June 10 and charge her with illegal possession of weapons.
June 16 - Mladic's family launch court proceedings to declare him dead on the grounds that he had been in poor health and they had had no contact with him for more than five years.
Oct. 28 - Serbia offers a 10 million euros reward for information leading to the arrest of Mladic, from ${esc.dollar}1 million.
Nov. 15 - Serbia is still not cooperating fully with the U.N. war crimes tribunal in the hunt for Mladic, the chief prosecutor says.
2011 - Mladic is arrested on May 26.
May 29 - Serbian nationalists attack police in Belgrade at a rally where about 10,000 protesters demand President Boris Tadic and his government quit over the Mladic arrest.
May 31 - Mladic visits the Belgrade grave of his daughter Ana, who committed suicide in 1994.
-- Serbia's war crimes court rejects an appeal against extradition of Mladic, opening the way for his dispatch to The Hague to stand trial.
June 3 - He appears in court, calling the charges against him "obnoxious" and "monstrous words", as he declines to enter a plea. Mladic has 30 days to enter a plea and says he needs more than a month to study the charges, however Judge Alphons Orie schedules a new hearing for July 4 for Mladic to enter a plea.
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