The Hague  - The trial against former Serbian leader Radovan Karadzic will be presided over by a new judge, the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) located in The Hague said on Thursday.

In a press statement ICTY president Judge Fausto Pocar said the trial was originally assigned to trial chamber one because of its assumed connection with the proceedings against Momcilo Perisic, one of the most senior generals under late Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic.

The prosecution had originally planned to combine the two cases, the ICTY said, which justified the cases being brought before the same chamber.

But after prosecutors recently informed the court they no longer intended to combine the two cases, the ICTY decided to assign the Karadzic trial to trial chamber III.

The reassigning of the case also means the case will no longer be dealt with by Dutch judge Alphons Orie.

On Tuesday, Karadzic filed a motion to the ICTY-court claiming that Orie was not be suitable to preside over the case. The motion requested a new judge.

Karadzic argued that Orie would not be neutral, as he had already sentenced one of his close assistants in the Balkan War, Momcilo Krajisnik.

On August 29, Karadzic is due to appear before the ICTY again, to enter a guilty or innocent plea to the charges brought against him. (dpa)