Karadzic's female companion insists: 'I didn't know he was the Beast of Bosnia - and we were NOT lovers'

Mila Damjanov's comments came as Serbian authorities raided numerous  addresses in sweeps to try and find  those who helped him escape arrest for 13 years.

Authorities were also trying to establish who the real Dragan Dabic is.

Karadzic stole the identity to invent a new life for himself as a doctor of alternative medicine, which allowed him to live openly in Belgrade.

Just good friends: Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic with Mila Damjovic

Some unconfirmed reports claimed Dabic had been a civilian who had been shot dead by Karadzic's Bosnian Serb troops as they laid siege to the  Bosnian Muslim  capital  of Sarajevo in 1993.

Meanwhile, Mila Damjanov, 53, insisted she had not been his lover as it emerged that portly Karadzic is refusing to eat in his jail cell  where he spends his days reading the Bible.

'I was NOT in an intimate relationship with him and it is important to me for that to be known,' said the divorcee of the widespread reports of their relationship.

'When I saw Dr Dabic's picture in the papers I  thought  it was some sort of mistake. It took my brain a while to process the information that Dr Dabic was Radovan Karadzic.' 

She is currently unemployed, but previously worked for Belgrade's public health service, where she developed an interest in the kinds of alternative therapy  'Dr. Dabic' practised.

'I met Dr Dabic seven or eight months ago at a lecture on alternative  medicine that was held in Belgrade,' she said.

'I remember that he  spoke about quantum energy and about the technique that is used in its application.

'Because I have been interested in this subject for a long time and have read quite a lot about it, it became clear to me that Dr Dabic was quite an expert. That is how we met.'

Asked whether she ever discussed politics with him, she said: 'No, I'm totally a-political and the only organisation I've ever been a member of is the library.'

And on the subject of whether she found him attractive, she said: 'Don't insult my intelligence.

'I collaborated with him professionally and it would be undignified for me to comment on his physical appearance, but if you insist, to me he seemed more like an apostle rather than a bohemian.

'He was peaceful, stable, full of patience, considerate of others, such qualities are rare nowadays.'

'Dr Dabic is a beautiful and well-educated man from whom I have learned a lot.

'Through discussions with him I came to realise that he is a man  who follows all of the latest findings from the field of medicine but I could also talk to him about many other subjects.'

Serbian officials want to move Karadzic to the Hague in The Netherlands as soon as possible to face war crimes charges during his years as leader of the Bosnian Serbs in the 1990s.