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Dayna R Robison  09/20/2006 11:18:48 AM  From  DB/Inbox:  Dayna R Robison

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SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: September 01, 2006 
 
 
Greens Kick off Election Campaign 
 
¶1. The Green Party began its election campaign in Vienna on Thursday 
with a series of attacks on the OeVP and Chancellor Wolfgang 
Schuessel. Party leader Alexander Van der Bellen said reforms were 
desperately needed in the education and training sectors, and 
accused the Chancellor of denying some serious problems needed to be 
addressed. Greens deputy-leader Eva Glawischnig said the OeVP's 
policies were anti-women. Semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung quotes 
the Greens leaders Alexander Van der Bellen and Eva Glawischnig as 
stressing they are "campaigning against the OeVP's delusions of 
grandeur," and say they "want to send the current government 
packing" with the help of the Austrian women's votes, who make up 
52,6 percent of the electorate. Van der Bellen also said his party 
would push for a "one-billion-Euro reform of the country's education 
and job training systems," and harshly attacked OeVP Education 
Minister Elisabeth Gehrer. Glawischnig meanwhile emphasized the dire 
need for better chances for women, saying they needed to be "given 
priority in all areas of life." 
 
 
Election Outcome Open again 
 
¶2. An Austrian daily publishes a survey by polling institute Gallup, 
which suggests the outcome of the October 1 general election is all 
but clear. According to the Gallup survey published in newly 
established daily Oesterreich, the OeVP is currently at 37 percent 
of the votes, followed closely by the SPOe with 35 percent. The 
Greens would get 11 percent of the votes at this point, and the FPOe 
seven percent. The BZOe and maverick MEP Heinz-Peter Martin's party 
HPM are ranked last, both with about 4 percent of the votes. In 
addition, a SPOE-Greens coalition is becoming increasingly popular 
among Austrians: 18 percent say this was their preferred government 
combination. With 39 percent of support, an OeVP-SPOe grand 
coalition remains the most popular coalition choice. 
 
 
Mild Verdict for Policemen 
 
¶3. Four members of the elite Vienna police unit WEGA have been found 
guilty of torturing and seriously injuring Bakary J., a Gambian 
asylum seeker, earlier this year. Three police officers received 
eight month suspended sentences, the fourth six months suspension, 
according to a report in independent provincial daily Salzburger 
Nachrichten. In a surprise turn on Wednesday the accused had pleaded 
guilty to the charges. Bakary J. was awarded 3,000 euros in damages. 
There was harsh criticism of the sentencing from Amnesty 
International (AI). The head of AI-Austria Heinz Patzelt said 
torture was effectively being treated as a petty crime. 
 
 
Bawag Fallout 
 
¶4. The Austrian Unions Association (OeGB) says it will file for 
damages against its former president Fritz Verzetnitsch following 
the affair over union-owned bank Bawag. In an interview with 
economics weekly Format, the head of the OeBG's Social Democratic 
faction, Wilhelm Haberzettl, did not name the sum the organization 
would sue for. 
 
Austria Has New Daily 
 
¶5. As of today, Oesterreich, a new daily newspaper is being 
published in Austria, bringing the total number of papers for sale 
in Austria to 17. The daily's editor in chief is long-time media 
tycoon Wolfgang Fellner, who also published mass-circulation weekly 
News and monthly magazine Woman. 
 
 
Iran Ignores Deadline 
 
¶6. The UN's nuclear watchdog says Iran has ignored a Security 
Council call to stop its uranium enrichment program, opening the way 
for possible sanctions. Iran has dismissed the report by the 
International Atomic Energy Agency, saying it will continue to 
pursue its nuclear activities. The US says the report contains ample 
justification for concern that Iran intends to produce nuclear 
weapons. Washington is therefore pushing for rapid sanctions against 
the mullah regime, but Russia and China are expected to oppose such 
a move. Newly established Austrian daily Oesterreich believes Iran' 
defiance is going to tighten the "noose of sanctions around Iran's 
neck." 
The daily's foreign editor Gerhard Plott comments: "Ahmadinejad is 
banking on disagreement in the Security Council. Russia and China 
would block the threatened sanctions against Iran, he believes. But 
to believe is not the same as to know, which is why Ahmadinejad 
could be terribly wrong. Neither Moscow, nor Beijing have any 
interest whatsoever in an atomic bomb in the hands of the mullah 
regime. It will take some huge diplomatic efforts now to forge an 
alliance with the two countries in order to get the confused man in 
Tehran back on the right track. The match Ahmadinejad has put to the 
powder keg must be put out." 
 
 
Stockholm Conference Pledges Lebanon Aid 
 
¶7. International donors meeting in Stockholm have pledged more than 
940 million dollars in immediate reconstruction aid for Lebanon. The 
sum is nearly double the targeted amount. Lebanese Premier Fuad 
Siniora has meanwhile promised the international community that the 
financial aid to be provided will not end up in the hands of radical 
Islamic group Hezbollah. Conference participants will turn their 
attention to the Palestinian territories today, where aid was cut 
off earlier this year after the election of Hamas into government. 
Newly established daily Oesterreich publishes an interview with 
Hezbollah spokesperson Dr. Bilal Naim, who emphasizes that the 
organization considers itself the winner in the recent conflict: 
"The entire world was against us, but we are the winners now. 
Israeli Premier Olmert has failed to reach his goals," namely the 
"destruction and disarmament of Hezbollah, and driving the 
organization out of southern Lebanon. And of course, liberating the 
kidnapped Israeli soldiers." Regarding the consequences for 
Hezbollah, he said: "Everyone in the Arab world had a problem with 
Israel's power. Hezbollah has shown everyone that we can beat 
Israel." Dr. Bilal also underscored that "no army in the world can 
disarm Hezbollah. You have to know the nature of Hezbollah, the 
nature of Islamic resistance. Each and every one of us is part of 
Lebanese society. There is no military base, no headquarters for 
this resistance." Hezbollah "will not disarm as long as Israel 
exists and poses a threat." 
 
 
California Passes Emission Laws 
 
¶8. The state of California has become the first in the nation to 
pass a bill to cap greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global 
warming. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, frustrated by the lack of 
action on the part of the Bush administration, teamed up with the 
state's Democratic majority on the landmark legislation. The state 
wants to reduce emissions by 25 percent by the year 2020. A recent 
report suggested the measure would add 60 billion dollars to the 
state's economy and create 17,000 jobs every year. Experts believe 
the move has considerably increased Schwarzenegger's chances at 
being re-elected as governor, ORF online news writes. Indeed, recent 
polls seem to indicate Schwarzenegger's chances for the November 
election have increased again: Currently, 49 percent of Californians 
say they their governor is doing a good job, while in June 47 
percent of the state's voting population said they do not want 
Schwarzenegger re-elected as governor. ORF online news also notes 
that this is the second time the California governor has actively 
opposed US President Bush's policy: In June, Schwarzenegger 
dismissed Bush's call for a deployment of additional National Guard 
troops to the United States' borders with Mexico. 
 
UN Troops for Darfur 
 
¶9. The UN Security Council has voted to create a peacekeeping force 
in Sudan's Darfur region to avert a new humanitarian disaster, says 
independent provincial daily Salzburger Nachrichten. It wants to 
deploy 17,300 soldiers to the crisis-ridden region, but the Khartoum 
government has rejected the resolution as illegal, warning it would 
not let the soldiers into the country. 
 
 
No End to Violence in Iraq 
 
¶10. A series of explosions, which devastated homes in the Iraqi 
capital Baghdad, has left more than 60 people dead and wounded over 
¶250. The United States has meanwhile expanded its force in Iraq by 
15,000 to 140,000 troops. US President Bush has meanwhile ruled out 
an early American withdrawal from the country, claiming such a move 
would turn Iraq into a terrorist state even more dangerous than 
Afghanistan under Taleban rule. Semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung 
quotes the US President as stressing Iraq left to its own devices 
would be particularly dangerous, because the country could tap into 
its huge oil reserves to finance terrorist activities. According to 
ORF online news, George Bush denies there are any indications of a 
civil war in Iraq, despite the recent surge of violence there. In 
fact, only "a small number of Iraqis" was involved in the 
religious-motivated violence. The US was fighting the decisive 
"ideological battle of the 21st century" against the successors of 
"Fascists, Nazis, and Communists" in Iraq, the US President said. 
McCaw