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Dayna R Robison  09/20/2006 10:44:11 AM  From  DB/Inbox:  Dayna R Robison

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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENNA 002790 
 
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SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: September 19, 2006 
 
 
Tough Election Campaign 
 
¶1. According to ORF online news, experts agree the current election 
campaign in Austria is "tougher in tone, but lacking in actual 
messages and concepts." There is "too much mudslinging, and not 
enough objective (discussion of) policies," they say. 
 
 
Elsner in Hospital 
 
¶2. Former bank Bawag director General Helmut Elsner has been taken 
to hospital in Marseille after he reportedly suffered a heart attack 
in a prison in southern France. Austrian officials are "rolling 
their eyes" at Elsner's alleged illness, a daily says. 
According to a report in semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung, 
Wolfgang Schubert, a lawyer for Elsner, says his client's health has 
"deteriorated dramatically" since his arrest at his villa in 
southern France last week. Schubert claims the former bank 
director's "heart troubles forced his transfer from a Marseille jail 
to a local hospital." Justice officials in Austria, however, believe 
Elsner is feigning illness to avoid being put on trial on charges of 
fraud and corruption. Extradition hearings in the case are going to 
be held on Wednesday. 
 
 
Austrian Islamic Leader Understands Muslim Anger Over Pope's 
Remarks 
 
¶3. In an interview Anas Schakfeh, leader of Austria's Islamic 
community, played down the significance of the strong reaction to 
Pope Benedict's quotation of a Byzantine emperor that has been 
interpreted as an insult to Islam. 
In an interview with centrist daily Die Presse, Schakfeh noted that, 
"Of 1.5 billion Muslims in the world, only a couple of thousand are 
demonstrating."  He adds, however, that, "while I don't support 
street protests, I can understand these reactions because I know how 
the community is feeling. The popular mood is running hot."  Asked 
if the Pope had made a mistake in making the remarks, Schakfeh said 
he believed the Pontiff meant to make the point that "violence is 
contrary to God's nature" and it would have been "sufficient" if he 
had said only that.  In response to a question about a call by the 
head of an international Muslim clerics' association for next Friday 
to be a "Day of Peaceful Anger" over the Pope's remarks, Schakfeh 
said he didn't support such a measure.  "I am in favor of quiet 
dialog between Christians and Muslims.  We have common problems that 
we need to talk about." 
 
 
Escalation in Budapest 
 
¶4. Violent protests broke out in Budapest last night, as 
demonstrators demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Ferenc 
Gyurcsany. Comments from Gyurcsany that his government had 
repeatedly lied to win the general elections last April sparked the 
unrests, ORF radio early morning news Morgenjournal reports. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Annan Not Optimistic on Iraq 
 
¶5. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has warned that Iraq is in danger 
of sliding into full-scale civil war and called for urgent action 
from Iraqi leaders and the international community, according to ORF 
radio. 
 
 
Bush, Ahmadinejad Address UN General Assembly 
 
¶6. World leaders convene in New York today for the UN General 
Assembly. President Bush is to address the Assembly, as are the 
leaders of France, South Africa and Pakistan. Iranian President 
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will also address the Assembly later this 
evening. 
Washington correspondent Joerg Winter comments on ORF radio early 
morning news Morgenjournal: "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not welcome in 
the US: The visa issued to the Iranian President only authorizes him 
to stay in New York and attend the UN General Assembly. He is not 
allowed to travel in the US. Iranian politicians are routinely 
denied US visas, with the exception of visits to international 
organizations. The Iranian President would have loved to have his 
'showdown' with George Bush in a debate before the General Assembly. 
It is hardly surprising that such a confrontation is not going to 
take place. There's still ample room for conflict, though, and the 
quarrel over the Iranian atomic program remains a key issue. In his 
speech, US President Bush is going to push for sanctions again - 
unless Iran comes around in the nuclear dispute and suspends its 
controversial uranium enrichment activities. But the front against 
Tehran is crumbling: Russia and China were never likely to support 
sanctions in the UN Security Council. Now, in a surprise move, 
France has also opposed the US. Prior to his departure for New York, 
French President Chirac said it would be better to do without the UN 
Security Council in the Iranian nuclear conflict. The suspension of 
uranium enrichment was not a requirement for launching direct 
negotiations with Tehran, Chirac added. As the first high-ranking 
European representative, the French President is expected to repeat 
this proposal at the Assembly. Thus, a diplomatic affront seems to 
be unavoidable. After all, US President Bush stated the exact 
opposite just a few days ago." 
 
 
 
 
Stirring up the Masses 
 
¶7. Political and religious Islamists are having "a field day" in 
Arab countries, an Austrian daily says in an analysis: They are 
drawing on the suppressed peoples' frustration. 
Whether it is a speech by the Pope, cartoons published in a 
newspaper or the debate over headscarves - again and again, the West 
is "taken by surprise by vehement reactions from the Muslim world," 
independent provincial daily Salzburger Nachrichten says in an 
analysis. The "radical ranting of extremist mullahs is falling on 
fertile ground in the Arab world, because the people there are 
suffering from inferiority complexes," the daily continues. The 
reason "for the often violent reactions is a feeling of 
powerlessness in the face of an almighty Western world, which is 
perceived as arrogant, brutal and hypocritical," the Salzburger 
Nachrichten argues. Thus, the "protests of the masses the mullahs 
can so easily instigate must be seen as a revolt against decades of 
suppression and disadvantage on the part of the people, the 
persistence of which may be blamed on the Western allies of Arab 
potentates." After all, the daily concludes, "the mullahs are 
offering the people the alleged explanations for the people's plight 
(the West and the Zionists) on a silver platter." 
McCaw