Radovan Karadzic, the top war crimes fugitive who evaded capture for almost 13 years, was arrested on a suburban bus in a disguise, Serbian newspapers have said.

"He had a long beard and his hair was dyed in black. He had a travel bag with him, and it appears he was prepared to leave Belgrade" and offered no resistance when detained, the daily Politika said without giving any sources.

Serbian authorities have yet to reveal any details about the capture of Karadzic, one of the world's most wanted men, only saying in a brief statement that it occurred on Monday night, without even revealing the location.

He remains in custody in Belgrade awaiting extradition to the Hague.

While some papers claimed Karadzic was arrested in a flat in central Belgrade, several others reported he had been caught on a city bus linking a central part of the capital with the suburb of Batajnica.

But his lawyer, Svetozar Vujacic, told reporters Karadzic was arrested on Friday night, while taking a bus between two suburbs of Belgrade, and had been held for three days before the announcement.

"Radovan Karadzic was arrested on Friday morning around 9.30 on the public bus," Mr Vujacic said.

"By the law he should have been taken to the judge immediately so no one knows who arrested him, who ordered that and who kept him for three days until he was brought here tonight.

"Radovan Karadzic himself doesn't know that either.

"He just said that these people showed him a police badge and than he was taken to some place and kept in the room.

"He was blindfolded ... he was kept in some room. ... And that is absolutely against the law what they did.

"The judge also said that he will look into this matter, who and why kept him for three days.

"He said he doesn't want to talk [and] he is not eating ... they have offered him some food, but he is not eating.

"The judge said that some medicines will be provided. He was examined by doctor and he is healthy."

On the run

During his 13 years on the run, Karadzic has reportedly disguised himself as an Orthodox monk, with a shaved head and hiding in mountains between Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro.

Some reports even claimed he had fled to Russia, finding shelter among Russian nationalists who supported Bosnian Serbs during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia.

Karadzic was last seen and photographed in the former Bosnian Serb military stronghold Han Pijesak in July 1996, a year after the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) made his indictment public.

After that, he was rarely spotted in public, although former UN war crimes tribunal prosecutor Carla del Ponte insisted he had been in hiding on the territory of the former Yugoslavia.

His last sighting was reportedly in 2005, in the Montenegrin town of Niksic, close to the border with Bosnia, where he allegedly had dinner with his wife in a small restaurant. This was never confirmed.

There were only a few political reactions to Monday's action - ultra-nationalist Radical Party official Aleksandar Vucic described Karadzic's arrest as a "new shame for Serbia."

Pro-European Serbian President Boris Tadic "has done everything to ensure that Serbia disappears," the daily Politika quoted Mr Vucic as saying in reference to the shrinking former Yugoslav republic that lost four wars in the 1990s.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he hoped Karadzic's arrest would now help unblock a key EU-Serbia accord.

"We have to talk to the prosecutor of the international tribunal, but I am almost certain he is going to say there is full cooperation," Mr Solana said.

- AFP/APTN