AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: September 05, 2007

UNCLAS VIENNA 002340 SIPDIS 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: OPRC KPAO AU SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: September 05, 2007 Renewed Outrage over Strache's Past Following the outrage last month at pictures showing FPOe boss Heinz-Christian Strache among the participants at an event of the banned neo-Nazi group Wiking Jugend, "yet another piece has been added to the mosaic of Strache's political leanings in the past," Austrian media comment. One Austrian daily now reports on a police file proving that Strache was arrested and detained for nine hours in Germany when he participated in one of the group's activities in ¶1989. All Austrian media report on the criticism from Austrian political parties of FPOe boss Heinz-Christian Strache in the wake of reports that the Freedom Party leader was arrested and detained on New Year's Day 1990 when he participated in an event of a banned neo-Nazi group in Germany. Mass-circulation tabloid Oesterreich says that the Socials Democrats and the Green Party reacted harshly to the latest revelations of Strache's political past: While the Greens argue that Strache no longer has a place in Austrian politics, and the SPOe said the FPOe could not be taken seriously as a party any more. The mass-circulation tabloid also suggests, like several Austrian media, that Strache will be hard-pressed to explain or defend his political past. Liberal daily Der Standard says the FPOe has meanwhile dismissed all accusations in connection with its party boss, describing the issue as a "witch hunt." Justice Ministry Defends Itself The Austrian Ministry of Justice has defended itself against accusations raised earlier this week by the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem that Austria has "failed miserably" in bringing Nazi criminals to justice. While admitting to "certain omissions and failures," these had occurred under previous Justice Ministers, and could not be blamed on incumbent Maria Berger, a ministry spokesperson said. The Wiesenthal Center had criticized in particular the cases of Erna Wallisch and Milivoj Asner, two suspected Nazi criminals still living in Austria. Like several Austrian media, semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung says the Justice Ministry's statement came after a report from the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem criticized Austria for not doing enough to track down Nazi war criminals. The head of the Center, Efraim Zuroff, accused the Austrian government of lacking the political will to tackle the problem. According to the Center's report, at least two alleged Nazi criminals are known to be living in Austria: Milivoj Asner is accused of committing crimes against civilians for Croatia's wartime Fascist regime, but officials say he is too weak to stand trial today. Meanwhile, Erna Wallisch served as a guard at the Majdanek concentration camp, and is thought to be living in Vienna. The daily also quotes from the statement put out by the Justice Ministry that there had been "missed opportunities" under previous governments, but that more has been done on the issue since incumbent Maria Berger took office. A ministry official cited the recently issued 50,000 reward leading to the capture and prosecution of Aribert Heim and Alois Brunner. Heim, who carried out executions as a member of the SS at the Mauthausen concentration camp, is thought to be in Chile. Brunner is said to have helped organize the deportation of Jews and was last known to be living in Syria. Gusenbauer in the Middle East Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer is currently on a visit to the Middle East, where he held talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. Earlier, he also paid a brief visit to the grave of late Palestinian leader Yasser ARAFAT in Ramallah. Reporting on the visit to the Middle east of the Austrian Chancellor, semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung quotes Gusenbauer as criticizing the barrier which Israel had put up between the Israeli and Palestinian territories. Speaking to journalists in Ramallah, Gusenbauer described the barrier as an "economic burden to both sides." Nonetheless, mass-circulation tabloid Kronen Zeitung reports, the Austrian Chancellor spoke of a "light at the end of the tunnel in the Mideast conflict" following his meetings with Israeli and Palestinian political leaders. Austria "supports the process of direct talks between the two Presidents Olmert and Abbas," Gusenbauer underscored: There was a "genuine chance of progress towards a Mideast solution. There is also the hope that an agreement between Israel and Palestine can be presented at the Middle East conference in November, on the basis of which a two-state system could be created." Similarly, in an interview with centrist daily Die Presse, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he believes Israel is "serious about wanting peace." Referring to previous efforts at making progress on the peace process, he argued that Hamas had "unfortunately destroyed everything." Under his leadership, there will be "no negotiations with Hamas, direct or indirect. With their putsch in the Gaza Strip, Hamas made a mistake, and they need to bear the responsibility and the consequences." 11 Goals Not Reached In Iraq A US Congressional report has found that the Iraqi government is "dysfunctional" and has "not been successful in taking political and military steps to cut sectarian violence." The Government Accountability Office has concluded that Iraq has failed to meet eleven of eighteen key benchmarks set by the US Congress in May. The report is the first in a series of assessments of Iraq this month. In connection with a US Congressional report which has concluded that Iraq has failed to meet eleven of eighteen key benchmarks set by the US Congress in May, commentator Christian Lininger says on ORF radio early morning news Morgenjournal: "The violence has not abated, the militias have still not been disarmed, there are fewer Iraqi security forces on alert than previously, and Parliament has failed to pass important laws, which should have paved the way towards a rapprochement of the hostile religious and ethnic groups in the country. This is the gloomy picture painted by the US Government Accountability Office in its most recent report to Congress. Out of the 18 goals which Congress demanded be met in Iraq, eleven have not been fulfilled. The report is yet another heavy blow for the Bush administration, which keeps arguing that the deployment of additional US troops has brought about partial success, which is why these forces should not be pulled out for the time being." ORF radio also quotes the head of the GAO, David Walker, as stressing the government has "not eliminated militia control of local security, nor eliminated political intervention in military operations, nor ensured even-handed enforcement of the law or ensured that political authorities made no false accusations against security forces." Three Terrorist Suspects Arrested In Germany In Germany, three people were arrested yesterday on suspicion of planning terrorist attacks. A German news network has said the three are suspected of planning attacks on the Frankfurt international airport and the US military base at Ramstein. Quoting security sources in Berlin, German media say that two of the suspects are German nationals, while the third has a Pakistani passport. German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung has meanwhile confirmed there was an "immediate threat." In connection with the arrests in Germany yesterday of three people suspected of planning terrorist attacks, semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung says that the ministers in charge of security from the German-speaking EU countries are planning to step up counter-terrorism measures. "We will have to accept that terrorism has arrived in Europe," the daily quotes Austrian Minister for the Interior Guenther Platter from the OeVP. At a meeting with his counterparts from Germany, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein, Platter suggested "introducing new measures aimed at restricting the terrorists' scope," the daily says. The Minister proposed online searches of terrorist suspects' computers as one of the potential measures, pointing out that the internet was a forum for the "most unbelievable criminal activities." McCaw