A Serbian official says genocide suspect Radovan Karadzic will be handed over to the U.N. war crimes tribunal this weekend or early next week.

Bruno Vekaric is spokesman for Serbia’s war crimes prosecutor. He says the former Bosnian Serb leader’s extradition to The Hague, Netherlands, “could be Monday or Tuesday _ but it could be earlier, too.”

Karadzic is wanted on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war. He was captured Monday in Serbia after more than a decade on the run.

Karadzic’s lawyer has said he will resist the extradition. Vekaric said Wednesday that a 72-hour period for Karadzic to launch a formal appeal started on Tuesday and expires on Friday.