AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: September 08, 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENNA 002690

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/AGS, INR/EU, AND EUR/PPD FOR YVETTE SAINT-ANDRE

OSD FOR COMMANDER CHAFFEE

WHITEHOUSE FOR NSC/WEUROPE


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO AU OPRC

SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: September 08, 2006

Third TV Debate


1. The third in a series of television debates between Austrian
political leaders was a face-off Thursday night between the Social
Democrats' boss Alfred Gusenbauer and BZOe leader Peter
Westenthaler. As expected, the two politicians strongly disagreed on
issues including the bank Bawag and immigration laws. Gusenbauer
called the BZOe's plan to get up to 300,000 foreigners out of
Austria "mass deportations."
In the -- according to ORF online news at times quite
confrontational -- televised debate with BZOe boss Peter
Westenthaler, SPOe leader Alfred Gusenbauer dismissed the BZOe's
call to reduce the number of foreigners in Austria by 30 percent as
"disgusting and defamatory hate campaigning." The party's demand to
deport foreigners on such a massive scale is entirely unrealistic,
Gusenbauer added. Westenthaler, in turn, accused the SPOe
chairperson of "backing criminal aliens." The SPOe leader stressed
that he is convinced the BZOe will no longer be represented in
parliament following the October 1 election, which "will put an end
to the party's nepotism and misanthropic policies." Westenthaler,
meanwhile, accused the SPOe of mismanagement in connection with the
scandal surrounding union-owned bank Bawag.

Saliera Thief Is Given Light Jail Term


2. The man who stole the Saliera from Vienna's Art History Museum
was sentenced yesterday to four years in prison. A court in Vienna
handed down the sentence against Robert Mang, who has admitted
stealing the Italian Renaissance saltcellar by Benvenuto Cellini
from the museum in May, 2003, semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung
says like all Austrian media.

Greens Develop Plan to Back out of Eurofighter Deal


3. For years, Greens MP Peter Pilz has been trying to axe the
Austrian government's deal to purchase EADS' Eurofighter
interceptors for the country. Now he believes he has found a way to
back out of the purchase deal using an offset deal with Airbus,
writes newly established daily Oesterreich.

Bin Laden 9/11 Video Surfaces


4. Only days ahead of the fifth anniversary of the strikes, Al
Jazeera television has aired video footage showing al Qaeda leader
Osama bin Laden meeting what is said to be some of the perpetrators
of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The video was filmed more than
five years ago and is said to be showing preparations for the
attacks. ORF radio early morning news Morgenjournal comments on the
al Qaeda tape: "Osama bin Laden was videotaped five years ago at a
meeting with several important al Qaeda terrorists. According to al
Jazeera, Ramzi Binalshibh, the 9/11 terrorist attacks' chief
coordinator, as well as the former al Qaeda military leader Mohammed
Atef, can be seen on the tape. The meeting probably took place in a
mountain region in eastern Afghanistan. The tape also shows combat
training, and bin Laden calling on people to pray for the suicide
attackers, as well as two perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks, who are
reading their last will and testament. By airing the video footage,
al Qaeda wants to remind the world how dangerous it continues to be
shortly before the fifth anniversary of 9/11. But the five-year-old
tape also raises new questions about al Qaeda's clout. As the Bush
administration announced yesterday, Ramzi Binalshibh is en route
from a secret CIA prison to Guantanamo. Mohammed Atef was killed in
November 2001 during US air strikes in Afghanistan. And Osama bin
Laden has not appeared on camera for almost two years. But even if
the terrorist organization does no longer exist in the same form as
five years ago, there are enough young extremists left who are
willing to carry out attacks in the name of al Qaeda. Today, al
Qaeda appears to be an ideology rather than an organization."

Europe Outraged over CIA Prisons


5. By acknowledging the existence of covert CIA prisons to hold and
interrogate terrorist suspects, US President George Bush has
re-angered Europeans. Human rights organizations and European
politicians have reacted with outrage to the US President's
admission in a speech earlier this week, complaining it was a
"wholehearted defense" of torture practices.
In centrist daily Die Presse, Washington correspondent Norbert Rief
says that in the run-up to the mid-term elections, the Republicans
are once again "playing the terror card." Bush won two elections
with this topic already, Rief says and adds: "The fifth anniversary
of 9/11 and the continuously present terrorist threat is to help
guarantee the Republicans will keep a majority in both the House and
the Senate." In addition, the White House has "created an
uncomfortable situation for the Democrats with the transfer of a
number of terrorism suspects to Guantanamo and the expected charges
to be brought against them. After all, the Democrats have long
demanded that alleged terrorists be given fair trials. Now it looks
as if Bush is willing to grant them that, albeit only on his own
conditions." The Democrats, however, have said they are conditions
they will not accept. It's a catch-22 situation for the Democrats,
according to Rief: "If they question the tribunals' legitimacy,
Bush could accuse them of trying to delay the trials they've been
demanding for so long, and claim they are soft on terrorism in the
bargain."

Concern over Violence in Afghanistan


6. NATO's top commander of operations has acknowledged the Alliance
has underestimated the level of violence in southern Afghanistan.
General James Jones urged members to provide reinforcements.
According to a number of NATO commanders stationed in Afghanistan,
the violence there is worse than in Iraq, says ORF radio early
morning news Morgenjournal.

Partial Lifting of Lebanon Blockade


7. Lebanon has welcomed Israel's decision to ease its blockade of
Lebanon by lifting the air embargo imposed eight weeks ago. However,
a naval blockade is likely to remain until a sufficient UN naval
force is in place, writes newly established daily Oesterreich.

Armitage disclosed Plame Identity


8. The former number two State Department official has admitted he
disclosed the identity of CIA employee Valerie Plame. Former Deputy
Secretary of State Richard Armitage said his action was a "terrible

SIPDIS
mistake,." ORF radio early morning news Morgenjournal reports.
McCaw