BREAKING NEWS

Mladic calls charges 'obnoxious, monstrous'

THE HAGUE - Former Bosnian Serb militarycommander Ratko Mladic called charges against him "obnoxious"and "monstrous words" as he declined to enter a plea at theYugoslavia war crimes court on Friday.

Mladic was indicted over the 43-month siege of the Bosniancapital Sarajevo and the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boysin the town of Srebrenica, close to the border with Serbia,during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

Mladic, who has 30 days to enter a plea, said he needed"more than a month" in court to study the charges against him,but Judge Alphons Orie scheduled a new hearing for July 4 forMladic to enter a plea.

Making a basketball hand signal for "time out" (a pause),Mladic asked to speak in private with his lawyer and Orie calleda 10-minute recess.