TIMELINE: What happened during the war in Bosnia?

(Reuters) - War crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic, who was arrested in Serbia on Monday, started out as defender of the Serbs in the 1992-95 Bosnian war but ended up a fugitive wanted on genocide charges.

Here is a short chronology of what happened in Bosnia:

1992:

Feb 29-March 1 - Bosnia's Muslims and Croats vote for independence in referendum boycotted by Serbs.

April 6 - European Union recognises Bosnia's independence. War breaks out and Serbs, under the leadership of Radovan Karadzic, lay siege to capital Sarajevo. They occupy 70 percent of the country, killing and persecuting Muslims and Croats to carve out a Serb Republic.

May - U.N. sanctions imposed on Serbia for backing rebel Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia.

1993:

January - Bosnia peace efforts fail, war breaks out between Muslims and Croats, previously allied against Serbs.

April - Srebrenica, Zepa and Gorazde in eastern Bosnia are declared three of six U.N. "safe areas". The United Nations Protection Force UNPROFOR deploys troops and Bosnian Serb Army (VRS) attacks stop. But the town remains isolated and only a few humanitarian convoys reach it in the following two years.