Perisic, 64, has pleaded not guilty to 13 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed against non-Serbs in Bosnia and Croatia when he was chief of the general staff of the Yugoslav Army from August 1993 to November 1998.

The charges include murder, persecution on political, racial or religious grounds, extermination, inhumane acts and attacks on civilians.

Perisic had served as army chief under then Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, whose war crimes trial ended after four years with his death in March 2006.

Prosecutor Mark Harmon argued before the International Criminal Tribunal yesterday that Perisic had been a staunch supporter of Milosevic's plan to create a single Serbian state, and one of his ''principal collaborators''.

''He faithfully and without reservation implemented the policies of the FYR [former Yugoslav republic],'' Mr Harmon told the judges. ''General Perisic issued orders and commands. He supplied large quantities of weapons [to the Serb army in Bosnia].

''He consistently failed in his duty to investigate and punish crimes committed by his officers ... of which he was fully aware.''

Many charges stem from the 44-month siege of the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, in which thousands of civilians died, and the 1995 massacre of about 8000 Muslim men and boys in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica. Perisic also stands accused over cluster bomb attacks on the Croatian capital Zagreb in May 1995 in which seven civilians died and at least 194 people were injured. AFP