The newly arrested "top war crimes suspect" Radovan Karadzic had been hiding in Serbian capital Belgrade with false identity and posed as a doctor, Serbian officials said Tuesday.

  A combination photo shows Bosnian Serb wartime leader and indicted war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic (L) in an undated recent file photo and (R) attending a parliamentary session in the Republik of Srpska in Bosanski Samac February 13, 1995. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

"Karadzic had been using forged documents with the name Dragan Dabic," Rasim Ljajic, president of the Serbian National Council for Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal said at a news conference.

"Karadzic was not a Serbian citizen and he had been very convincing in hiding his true identity," said Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic who joined the conference.

"He made money by practicing alternative medicine in a private clinic in Belgrade; neither people in the clinic nor his landlord knew his true identity," Vukcevic said.

"His last residence was in the suburban area of New Belgrade. He had moved freely through the city, and had appeared in public places."

On a picture shown at the news conference, Karadzic was almost unrecognizable as a thin old guy with long gray hair and whiskers and glasses.

  Radovan Karadzic attends a parliamentary session in the Republik of Srpska in Bosanski Samac in February 13, 1995 file photo. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)