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P 161251Z FEB 07
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UNCLAS VIENNA 000419 
 
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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO AU OPRC
 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: February 16, 2007 
 
 
BZOe Boss Implicated in Bawag Scandal 
 
¶1. BZOe boss Peter Westenthaler is coming under fire in the Bawag 
affair. On Thursday, former Minister of Justice Karin Gastinger 
confirmed towards centrist daily "Die Presse" that he tried "very, 
very cautiously" to intervene on behalf of investment banker 
Wolfgang Flttl, who lost the Bawag billions of euros through 
speculations. If this charge turns out to be true, this could 
constitute instigation to an abuse of authority. The Greens are 
already considering filing charges with the legal authorities - the 
Viennese prosecutor's office has announced that they might act of 
their own accord on this matter, however, "a decision has not been 
made yet," as a spokesman of the prosecutor's office told "Die 
Presse." 
The main reason why Westenthaler has allegedly attempted to 
intervene for Wolfgang Flttl is that the latter had documents that 
Westenthaler hoped would provide ammunition for the BZOe election 
campaign, said Christoph Pchinger from the Vienna prosecutor's 
office. Gastinger confirmed this and spoke of two intervention 
attempts on the part of the BZOe, reports independent daily 
"Salzburger Nachrichten." The BZOe boss had asked both her and 
Pchinger about the current status quo with regard to the Flttl 
issue, Gastinger remembers. The prosecutor's office had then made 
clear that there must be no political intervention in the matter, 
writes the daily. Westenthaler has rejected the charges as 
"nonsense." He admitted to having intervened with Gastinger - 
openly, as he claimed - because he thought the whole procedure was 
too slow. 
 
 
Elsner:  Little Chance of Freedom 
 
¶2. Former Bawag boss Helmut Elsner has little chance of going free 
on bail for the time being. Currently he is in the 
Wilhelminenspital, to which he was taken from prison to check the 
state of his health by the best specialists. The prosecutor has 
spoken out against letting Elsner go free on bail, because a flight 
risk cannot be substituted for by bail. 
Contrary to previous reports, Elsner will not appear before the 
committee that investigates the bank scandal. 
Only after Helmut Elsner has been released from the hospital can he 
be interrogated by the investigation committee. Its next sessions 
are on February 21, 26, and 28 - Elsner has been summoned to appear 
before the committee at these dates - whether he will actually come 
depends on his physical fitness and on the legal authorities, writes 
mass circulation daily "Kurier." The doctors who are examining the 
71-year-old former Bawag boss are confident that the medical 
examinations will not take more than two days. The French doctors 
that confirmed Elsner's severe heart disease in December, could get 
into trouble:  The Austrian doctors' chamber has already announced 
that it is prepared to take action if it turns out that their expert 
opinions were intended as a favor to Elsner. 
 
Cleaner Energy Not EU Priority 
 
¶3. The EU Commission had ambitious plans for the introduction of 
environmentally-friendly energy sources - nevertheless, the EU 
Ministers of Energy largely declined to set mandatory guidelines for 
the use of alternative energy sources at their meeting on Thursday. 
The only binding goal on which they were able to agree is the 
promotion of biological fuels. The main goal of the EU Commission of 
increasing the use of biological fuels by 20 percent met with 
resistance on the part of most EU states, which reject the strong 
involvement of Brussels in this matter and only agreed to accept the 
guidelines on a voluntary basis. 
In the end, the EU states agreed on a compromise, reports centrist 
daily "Die Presse":  What will be mandatory is just the EU-wide 
increase of biological fuels to 10 percent. The burden sharing among 
the member states is to follow. The increase of other renewable 
energy sources remains a voluntary act. An extensive use of 
biological fuels is controversial:  According to a "Financial Times" 
report, the EU would have to import thousands of tons of energy 
plants from countries like Brazil in order to actually achieve its 
intended goal until 2020. Environmental organizations fear that the 
mass production of the respective plants could lead to accelerated 
destruction of rain forest and to high food prices in Third World 
states. With regard to nuclear energy, whose importance for a 
"cleaner environment" is always stressed by the EU Commission, the 
decision continues to rest with the individual states. Austria's 
Minister for Economy and Labor Martin Bartenstein has confirmed 
Austria's negative stance with regard to nuclear energy, writes the 
daily. 
Al-Masri Injured In Fight 
 
¶4. According to news station "CNN," the leader figure of the terror 
network al-Qaida in Iraq is said to have been injured during combat 
with Iraqi police in a fight between Falluja and Samarra. His deputy 
Abu Abdullah al Majamiai allegedly died in the incident. The CNN 
report was confirmed by the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior, which 
refused to give details considering al-Masri's current whereabouts. 
 
Will Ivanov Become New Strong Man In Russia? 
 
¶5. Russian President Vladimir Putin has unexpectedly reshuffled his 
cabinet and thereby triggered wild speculations as to the future 
power distribution in the country. The current hardliner, Minister 
of Defense Sergej Ivanov has become the first deputy head of 
government and thus ranks equal with Dimitri Medvedov, who also 
occupies this position. Some Kremlin observers see this as an 
indication that the Kremlin boss, who may no longer run for office 
in 2008, wants to position Ivanov as new strong man in Russia. 
 
Unequal Treatment of Iran and North Korea 
 
¶6. Centrist daily "Die Presse" has analyzed the reasonsQhy the 
Iranian and North Korean nuclear conflicts are being handled in such 
very different ways - responsible for this inequality are the 
different strategic interests of Washington. North Korea is seen as 
less of a threat, its geographical position makes a multilateral 
approach feasible and a collapse of the regime in Pyongyang is 
actually something its neighbors fear rather than desire. China, and 
paradoxically also the US, have an interest in maintaining the 
status quo with regard to North Korea, argues the daily. 
In contrast to Iran and its influence on the Middle East crisis 
region, the regime in Pyongyang doe not have the means at its 
disposal to undermine the strategic interests of the US in East 
Asia, analyzes "Die Presse." Kim Jong-Il's main concern is the 
survival of his regime. Iran, on the other hand, is a constant 
threat to the interests of the US and its allies in a region which 
is rich in natural resources. Also, a regime change in Iran would 
most probably bring to power political elites which are most likely 
to be friendlier towards the West than the present political 
leadership. In East Asia, a pro-Western regime on the Korean 
peninsula would not necessarily be in the Americans' best interest. 
As a precondition for a reunification of the two Koreas, the US 
would probably have to give up its military presence - otherwise 
China and Russia would not give their consent. However, this would 
drastically weaken Washington's strategic position towards both 
countries, writes the daily. 
McCaw