Judges order health check for Ratko Mladic

Judges have ordered a full medical checkup for General Ratko Mladic after he said he was too ill to attend a hearing of the UN War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia last week.

A complete picture of the 69-year-old former Bosnian-Serb military chief's health will help "better assess whether and to what extent his health condition could affect the preparation of the upcoming trial", judges said.

The order comes amid a slew of health complaints from General Mladic since he arrived at the detention unit in The Hague in May. He was arrested in Serbia after 16 years on the run and is charged with genocide and war crimes. He has suffered a kidney stone, a hernia and pneumonia.