The Hague, Sep 29 (IANS/EFE): The last phase of the trial of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) began Monday with the prosecution's closing arguments.

Prosecutors have asked that should he be found guilty, Karadzic should be sentenced to life imprisonment for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In his opening remarks, the chief prosecutor argued that Karadzic's actions were direct and deliberate against the Muslim population during the civil wars of the early 1990s in the former Yugoslavia.

Karadzic is accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the conflict, including the Srebrenica massacre in which some 8,000 Muslim men were killed, and the siege of the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo in which 12,000 civilians died.

Prosecutor Alan Tieger said the evidence demonstrated the defendant's genocidal intent and the resulting devastation of the Bosnian and Croatian communities, adding that there was an attempt to eliminate these communities.

Karadzic, who attended the trial, heard the description of the violent events during the war in Bosnia with a serious face.

Once the prosecution's argument ends, Karadzic, who has decided to defend himself, is scheduled to answer the charges Wednesday.

The former general was captured in 2008 near Belgrade, 12 years after the ICTY ordered his arrest. Several days later he was transferred to The Hague where the court sits.

During his trial, Karadzic has attempted to prove that the Srebrenica massacre was the responsibility of the Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic who is also on trial at The Hague.

The prosecutor made public last Friday a document noting that life in prison "would be the only appropriate sentence" for Karadzic.

The Bosnian War began in 1992 after the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia and lasted for three years, causing an estimated 100,000 deaths and displacing more than two million people, according to UN data.