Goran Hadzic speaks at a joint session of Serb Republic of Krajina's and Bosnian Serb Republic in Bosanski Novi in this 1993 file photo. [Photo/Agencies]

WASHINGTON - The White House on Wednesday welcomed the arrest of Goran Hadzic, the last remaining fugitive indicted for atrocities by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

"We congratulate (Serbian) President (Boris) Tadic and the government of Serbia for ensuring that the last fugitive indictee of the ICTY will now face justice," it said in a statement.

Hadzic, a war-time Croatian Serb politician who had been on the run since July 2004, was arrested by Serbian authorities Wednesday morning in the mountainous Fruska Gora region, north of Belgrade.

He was indicted in 2004 by the ICTY for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war allegedly committed in Croatia in 1991 and 1992.

"We hope that Goran Hadzic's arrest, coming less than two months after the arrest of fellow indictee Ratko Mladic, can bring some much needed closure to the victims of the crimes committed in Croatia, and their families, and elsewhere in the region," the White House said.

Mladic, former Bosnian Serb military commander, was arrested on May 26. Hadzic and Mladic are the final two fugitives out of 161 individuals indicted by the ICTY.