AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: January 17, 2007

UNCLAS VIENNA 000096 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: KPAO AU OPRC SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: January 17, 2007 Gusenbauer Offers Tutoring Lessons ¶1. A statement made by Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer during his inaugural address in Parliament has caused a stir among MPs: Gusenbauer offered to give tutoring lessons in Austrian schools once a week, thus reflecting a proposal included in the coalition agreement that students could do community work instead of paying university tuition fees. The OeVP has dismissed the idea as a "poor joke," while the SPOe defended it as a "symbolic gesture." According to semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung, Gusenbauer was aiming to take the wind out of the university tuition fee critics' sails with his proposal to give tutoring lessons. He emphasized during his inaugural address that the "people have to be at the heart of politics," the daily quotes. Mass-circulation provincial daily Kleine Zeitung publishes a critical rating of the Chancellor's inaugural address: It was a "monotonous, dramaturgically not aspiring speech, which he read off his notes for the most part." In addition, it was "not a major socio-political accomplishment, but a series of vague announcements and phrases." The daily concludes that it was "not exactly a rousing speech: A premier marked by boredom." Semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung also publishes a survey by polling institute OGM, which shows that the majority of Austrians is not happy with the launch of the new government: 62 percent say the coalition kick-off was not a success, according to the daily. More Student Demonstrations ¶2. The Austrian University Students' Association (OeH) has announced demonstrations are being held in Vienna and Graz today, as university students continue to protest against the retaining of tuition fees, despite a promise made by the SPOe during its election campaign that the fees would be abolished. A front-page report in independent provincial daily Salzburger Nachrichten mentions that a number of high-ranking SPOe representatives have urged negotiations on the controversial university study fees should continue: The last word on the issue has not been spoken yet," the daily quotes floor leader Josef Cap. Science Minister Johannes Hahn from the OeVP, however, has dismissed calls for additional talks on the matter, stressing that it is the terms of the coalition pact, which count for him. Terrorist Suspect Arrested in Vienna ¶3. A terrorist suspect has been arrested at Vienna's Schwechat airport. The Albanian-born US citizen, for whose capture there is an international arrest warrant, is said to also have worked as a double agent for the CIA, an Austrian daily writes. The suspect, identified by the paper as Dodu L., is allegedly the head of a former Yugoslavian terrorist group, which had planned to carry out two bomb attacks at the parliamentary elections in Montenegro last September. Mass-circulation tabloid Kronen Zeitung reports on the arrest at Schwechat airport of Albanian-born terrorist suspect Dodu L., calling it a "success for the Austrian police." The daily suggests that Dodu L., who was en route back to the United States, must have been "aware of the international arrest warrant," and of the fact that he "ranked high on the list of internationally wanted terrorist suspects." The suspect is currently being held at a detention facility in Korneuburg, Lower Austria, and awaiting extradition. It is not clear, however, where he will be extradited to, as both the US and Montenegro have claimed him, apparently. The Kronen Zeitung cites Dodu L's alleged activities as a double agent for the CIA as the reason for why the United States wants to prevent an extradition to Montenegro. Iranian Terrorist Suspect Arrested? ¶4. A main suspect in the murder of an Iraqi Kurdish opposition politician in Vienna in 1989 may be among five Iranians arrested in Iraq. The Iranians were captured by US troops during a raid in Irbil last week. There has been no official confirmation that the suspect Mohammed Jafari Sahroudi is in custody, however. Major Austrian media report on the alleged arrest in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil of Mohammed Jafari Sahroudi, one of the Iranian assassins of three Kurdish opposition leaders in Vienna in 1989. Like all leading Austrian dailies and ORF television and radio, centrist daily Die Presse mentions the arrest, and adds that Austrian radio had been sourcing the US media earlier this week. However, the daily points out, there has been no official confirmation at this point, neither from the American authorities, nor from the Austrian Foreign Ministry that Sahroudi is indeed among those arrested in Irbil in a raid carried out by US troops last week. President Defends His Iraq Strategy ¶5. US President George Bush in a television interview has defended his decision to commit thousands more troops to the Iraqi capital Baghdad to try to end sectarian violence there. In related news, at least 70 people were killed and dozens injured in a double bombing at a Baghdad university yesterday. According to experts, there is evidence some of the bombings are targeting more educated people in Iraq. Independent provincial daily Salzburger Nachrichten runs the headline "The costly war in Iraq," and reports that the United States is spending about 200 million dollars daily on their security and reconstruction efforts in Iraq - a massive strain on the US budget. The entire sum spent on Iraq so far can thus easily compete with expenses for the Vietnam War, and is likely to create another problem in the White House's dealings with Congress, the daily adds. After all, some Republicans and the Democrats alike have been demanding the inflationary Iraq expenses need to be curbed considerably, according to the Salzburger Nachrichten. Meanwhile, commentator for liberal city weekly Falter Raimund Loew writes in the January 17 issue that the Iraq study groups headed by Republican James Baker and the Democrat Lee Hamilton "rested on the hope that the entire Middle East policy can be put on a basis that both parties have agreed on. That hope is now dead. Until the presidential elections in 2008, Iraq will be the center of the political debate. Just like in the case of Bush vs. Kerry in 2004, the debate will focus on the US position in the world. The unavoidable collective conscience probing that will take place will hopefully also bring people to reflect on the latest disgrace in the Iraq that America created: The gruesome series of executions of condemned top officials of the toppled Baathist regime. (...) It was the US that, after the invasion, rejected the idea of turning those officials of the Baathist regime that were responsible for crimes against humanity over to an unassailable institution such as the International Tribunal of The Hague. The legitimacy that the US lacks in Iraq will hardly be achieved by sending more troops. That is a lesson already learned in Vietnam." Doubts Regarding Alleged Syria Deal ¶6. Israel and Syria have denied reports on an alleged draft for a peace accord set up in secret negotiations. However, the draft agreement actually exists, an Austrian daily says, explaining that it had been drawn up as a private initiative, and without having been officially commissioned. Liberal daily Der Standard quotes the report published in Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz earlier this week on an alleged "clandestine agreement between representatives from Israel and Syria, which created quite a stir in media circles." The draft after all suggests that Israel has in principle agreed to give back the Golan Heights to Syria as part of a gradual, long-term process, the daily explains. Official sources immediately denied the report, stressing that the talks had taken place without any authorization from the Israeli government. Spokespeople for Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert have emphasized that "no one has been commissioned to talk to the Syrians." McCaw