Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic enters the courtroom at the UN's Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague in March 2009. (Jerry Lampen/Associated Press)

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic will go on trial Oct. 26, the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal announced Thursday.

Karadzic has been charged with 11 counts of war crimes, including two counts of genocide, for allegedly masterminding atrocities during the 1992-95 Bosnian war, including the 1995 massacre of about 8,000 Muslim males in Srebrenica and the deadly siege of Sarajevo.

Karadzic claims innocence on all charges and has fought to have the charges against him dropped based on claims he was offered immunity by former U.S. mediator Richard Holbrooke in 1996 if he left public life.

Holbrooke has repeatedly denied the claim. The UN court also rejected Karadzic's appeal based on those claims, saying even if the allegation were proved it would not limit the jurisdiction of the tribunal.

Karadzic faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted by the UN court.

Karadzic was arrested on a Belgrade bus in late July 2008 after 13 years on the run. At the time, he had flowing white hair and a bushy beard and was working as a new-age healer under the name of Dr. Dragan Dabic.

The trial is expected to take three years to complete. It will begin with a two-day opening statement by prosecutors.

With files from The Associated Press