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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KPAO AU
 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: April 13, 2007 
 
 
Eurofighter: SPOe Could Go It Alone 
 
¶1. Although he had dismissed such a move earlier, emphasizing he was 
"loyal to the coalition," Defense Minister Norbert Darabos now says 
he no longer rules out his party, the Social Democrats (SPOe) could 
be "going it alone," if a decision is made to withdraw from the 
contract to purchase 18 Eurofighter jets from EADS. Darabos added 
this would likely mean the end of the two-party coalition of the 
Social Democrats and the People's Party (OeVP). The Minister is 
awaiting expert legal opinions on whether the government now has 
sufficient grounds to pull out of the deal. 
Liberal daily Der Standard says that some of the SPOe's heavyweights 
-- three provincial governors - are also pushing for a cancellation 
of the Eurofighter deal. Vienna mayor Michael Haeupl, Styrian 
governor Franz Voves and the governor of Upper Austria Erich Haider 
have said they want a quick withdrawal from the purchase, with Voves 
adding that "in his opinion the OeVP (which has so far opposed 
pulling out of the deal) will have no other choice, when the legal 
situation is made clear."  Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer has been 
holding back on voicing his views, and merely said a SPOe 
go-it-alone cancellation was a hypothetic question at this point. 
Centrist daily Die Presse notes there is "confusion with regard to 
the SPOe's stance" on the issue: Apparently, the Social Democrats 
are "having a hard time coming up with a joint position" on the 
Eurofighter deal. 
 
 
EADS Money for FPOe Functionary 
 
¶2. The network of EADS lobbyist Erhard Steininger was quite 
extensive, Austrian media suggests, and report that the former 
Freedom Party communications chief Kurt Lukasek, who used to be a 
close aide to ex-FPOe floor leader Peter Westenthaler, has confirmed 
that he received 28.500 Euros from Steininger. Lukasek has indicated 
he is ready to testify before the Austrian parliamentary inquiry, 
which is looking into allegations that improper payments could have 
influenced the decision in favor of the Eurofighter purchase. 
All Austria media continue to report on the numerous payments made 
by EADS lobbyist Erhard Steininger to a number of persons involved 
in the decision process for the Eurofighter deal. Mass-circulation 
tabloid Kronen Zeitung speculates the business transactions that 
have so far been disclosed could be the "tip of the iceberg." The 
newspaper quotes chairperson of the parliamentary investigative 
committee Peter Pilz as saying that "there are no bills in the tax 
files for EADS funds in the amount of 1.5 million Euros which 
Steiniger received." 
 
 
Ambassador's Letter to the Editor 
 
¶3. A letter by US Ambassador to Austria Susan McCaw to the editor of 
a leading daily newspaper is published as a guest commentary. 
Ambassador McCaw emphasizes that the United States, too, would 
prefer closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. 
In her letter to the editor of liberal daily Der Standard, US 
Ambassador to Austria Susan McCaw points to calls on President Bush 
to "Close Guantanamo." These statements, the Ambassador underscores, 
"are undoubtedly sincere, and Americans share that sentiment.  As 
the President himself has said many times, the United States would 
like to close Guantanamo." Unfortunately, "a viable alternative for 
dealing with all of the dangerous men who are detained there" has 
not yet been found. But, the United States has a suggestion for 
countries that want to work with the US on reducing the number of 
Guantanamo detainees: "Accept the transfer of detainees, or work 
with us to convince other countries to accept them," suggests 
Ambassador McCaw, who adds that many of the prisoners have already 
been released or transferred to their home countries. Of the 385 
persons that remain at the facility, "many are regarded sufficiently 
dangerous to the United States and other countries as to require 
continued detention." This is why the US is "offering our NATO 
allies and other countries in Europe the opportunity to make a 
public demonstration of their often-expressed desire to speed up the 
closure of Guantanamo:  Help resettle these detainees who are 
eligible to leave Guantanamo, either by accepting them, consistent 
with your own laws, or by helping us work with countries which might 
serve as alternate destinations." Ambassador McCaw also underscores 
that Austrian human rights expert Prof. Manfred Nowak, who is the UN 
Special Rapporteur on Torture, once suggested that each EU member 
country agree to accept a number of Guantanamo detainees to help 
speed the closing of the facility.  While many details would need to 
be agreed upon, I would like to applaud Prof. Novak's creative and 
constructive contribution to this very important discussion," the 
Ambassador concludes. 
 
 
Bleak Day for Iraq 
 
¶4. The Iraqi government is to hold a special session today to 
discuss the unprecedented breach in security, which allowed a bomb 
attack in the cafeteria of the Iraqi Parliament building yesterday. 
Eight people, including three MPs, have been killed in the blast 
inside the heavily protected Green Zone. The explosion came only 
hours after part of a bridge in Baghdad was blown up by a car bomb 
Thursday morning. The US government has denied the bombing shows the 
ongoing security sweep in Baghdad is having little impact. Austrian 
media, however, comment that it was a "bleak day" for Iraq, adding 
that is "an open secret things are not going well for the Americans" 
there. They also suggest the suicide bomber in the Parliament 
cafeteria must have had help from inside the Green Zone, as he had 
apparently passed all checkpoints without the explosives being 
detected. 
All Austrian media report on the most recent attacks in Baghdad. 
Mass-circulation tabloid Oesterreich runs the headline "blasts shake 
the power center of Iraq," referring on the suicide bombing at the 
Parliament building. The US military suspects al Qaeda is behind the 
attack, the daily adds. Mass-circulation provincial daily Kleine 
Zeitung headlines "Death is lurking everywhere in Baghdad," and 
argues the explosions are a "severe setback for the ongoing US 
security efforts in the Iraqi capital." The heavily fortified Green 
Zone used to be considered as the relatively safest area in Baghdad, 
which is seeing insurgent attacks on a daily basis. But now, even 
that zone apparently cannot gurantee security any longer, the daily 
writes. Foreign affairs writer for centrist daily Die Presse Thomas 
Seifert in his commentary also suggests yesterday's suicide bombing 
at the Iraqi Parliament cafeteria was an "attack on the heart of the 
state." He believes the "US security offensive has failed: 
Terrorists are launching ever more spectacular attacks in Baghdad. 
(...) Simple whining, however, won't help the Iraqis, who have to 
live in this chaos, or the US, which has to find a way out of this 
mess in Mesopotamia. There must be a change of course as well as the 
recognition that it is not possible to handle the insurgency simply 
by military means. At the moment, there is at least a ray of hope: 
The regional conference which will take place in Cairo in May with 
the goal of bringing Iraq closer to a political solution." 
 
 
Call for Wolfowitz's Resignation 
 
¶5. World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is under increasing pressure 
to resign, as the bank's board is considering how to respond to his 
admission that he helped his girlfriend get better promotion and 
pay. World Bank staff representatives have suggested Wolfowitz 
should step down. The World Bank chief has meanwhile admitted he 
"made a mistake" and said he would "assume full responsibility for 
the details of the contract" which provided for his partner's 
promotion and pay rise, ORF online news writes. 
 
 
 
 
 
Compensation Payments for Civilian Victims 
 
¶6. The American Civil Liberties Union has attained US army files 
which show the military has paid around 52 million US dollars in 
compensation for Iraqi and Afghan civilians killed by coalition 
forces. The payments were for people killed in non-military action. 
The Civil Liberties Union says the records obtained so far under the 
Freedom of Information Act are a very small proportion of those held 
by the Defense Department, reports ORF radio early morning news 
Morgenjournal. 
 
 
North Korea Deadline Approaching 
 
¶7. The US envoy to North Korea, Christopher Hill, is in Beijing for 
talks, as this weekend's deadline for Pyongyang to shut down its 
nuclear reactor approaches. North Korea has made no public comment 
on whether it is satisfied with the US solution to a financial 
dispute that has stalled the disarmament process, however, according 
to ORF radio early morning news Morgenjournal. 
Kilner