But in the ski resort of Pale outside Sarajevo that served as his stronghold throughout the 1992-95 war, as in many other parts of Bosnia's Serb entity of Republika Srpska, the name Karadzic still elicits respect. ``What I can say is, all the best to him,'' said Jelena, 51, a teacher who like others interviewed this week in Pale declined to give her full name. ``He was, and will always, be my President.''

``We all followed him,'' agreed Danica, 63. ``If he had not led us, we Serbs would have disappeared.'' Young people too voiced support to Karadzic. ``I think he did a good job,'' said Slaja, 16. ``I think he's okay.'' In the eyes of ICTY prosecutors,the US-trained former psychiatrist of the Sarajevo football club who later embraced ethnic cleansing as the way to ``save Serbs'' from a perceived Muslim onslaught is anything but okay. Twice indicted before the war ended, Karadzic is accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, particularly with regard to the 43-month siege of Sarajevo and the July 1995 slaughter of 7,000-plus Muslim males in Srebrenica.

Yet he is still at large, reportedly moving between safe houses in the rugged eastern half of Bosnia's Serb entity, Republika Srpska, which borders on Serbia. The NATO-led peace-keeping Stabilization Force (SFOR), which has nabbed several ICTY suspects in commando-like operations, has failed to move in on Karadzic, three years after his first indictment. SFOR's commanders reportedly fear that a snatch operation might trigger a blood bath with Karadzic's bodyguards, or provoke retaliation from loyal Serbs. Though he gave up his three-storey house in Pale last month, his wife and childrenremain influential in the town. They have all ruled out the possibility that he might surrender for trial.

In Bosnian Serb politics, whatever lingering influence Karadzic had evaporated in January when a western-backed moderates -- led by a former Karadzic ally, Bilijana Plavsic wrestled control of the entity's government. Those implementing the Dayton peace accords, such as High Representative Carlos Westendorp, are confident that Karadzic -- though still at large is not only politically isolated, but also cut off from his prime source of money: cigarette and liquor smuggling. But such is his support among many Serbs that his picture can still be seen in offices and cafes around Republika Srpska, although the woman who flashed it was firmly ushered away by police. ``You can't show his picture like that,'' one officer was overheard telling the grandmotherly lady. ``Foreigners might see you.''