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TAGS: OPRC KPAO AU
 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: October 15, 2007 
 
Launch of Integration Platform 
 
¶1. A government platform addressing topics and problems in 
connection with integration and security will begin its work today. 
The arrest in Austria in September of three Islamist suspects and 
the case of Bosnian teenager Arigona Zogaj have added a sense of 
urgency to the creation of the platform, which is part of the 
SPOe-OeVP coalition program, Austria media agree. Chancellor Alfred 
Gusenbauer, Vice-Chancellor Wilhelm Molterer and Interior Minister 
Guenther Platter are expected to attend the "kick-off" ceremony in 
Vienna. 
Reporting on the government's kick-off today of its so-called 
integration platform, liberal daily Der Standard headlines 
"integration instead of irritation," and says that the focus of the 
newly-created institution is to promote a better integration of 
immigrants, particularly Muslims, into Austrian society. A 
"roundtable" will be held every six months and offer NGOs and 
representatives of religious groups the opportunity to present to 
the government their proposals to improve the way the various ethnic 
groups in Austria are getting along. Interior Minister Guenther 
Platter will be organizing the platform's work, the Standard 
explains. The daily adds that for the SPOe and Chancellor Alfred 
Gusenbauer the main focus is on improving education opportunities 
for immigrants, while the OeVP wants to push a "debate of values" 
and call for "expert opinions" in order to boost integration. 
 
 
Berger: Work Instead of Jail 
 
¶2. Austrian Justice Minister Maria Berger from the Social Democrats 
has presented a program which envisages offering youth offenders the 
option of doing community or social work instead of serving jail 
time. The SPOe's coalition partner OeVP has welcomed Berger's 
proposal, but has criticized her push to re-introduce the juvenile 
court, which was abolished under the OeVP-FPOe/BZOe coalition 
government, according to ORF TV's Sunday morning program on policy 
Hohes Haus. 
 
 
One Suspect Released in Rucksack-Bomber Case 
 
¶3. Austrian radio reported that Asim C., the Bosnian who had tried 
to enter the US mission earlier this month with a backpack filled 
with two hand grenades, nails and a book on Islam, remains in 
investigative custody for the time being. A second suspect has in 
the meantime been released, although he had been incriminated by 
Asim C., who claimed his alleged accomplice had put him up to the 
attempted bomb attack in the first place. The Austrian Prosecutors 
Office, however, argued that findings indicate the second suspect 
was not involved in the planned attack, says ORF radio in its 
evening news program Abendjournal on October 12. 
 
 
EU Ministers Meet In Luxembourg 
 
¶4. European Union foreign ministers are meeting in Luxembourg today, 
aiming to pave the way for the informal EU summit in Lisbon later 
this year, which is to finalize the EU Reform Treaty. The treaty is 
scheduled to be signed by the end of the year. The ministers are 
also expected to agree on tougher sanctions against the military 
junta in Myanmar, liberal daily Der Standard reports. 
 
 
Iran Increases Pressure on OMV 
 
¶5. A tug-of-war has developed over a "mega deal" agreed between Iran 
and Austrian energy provider OMV, a leading Austrian daily says: 
According to Iranian media reports, negotiations with OMV on the 
billion-Euro natural gas project "Pars" have failed to yield results 
so far. If needs be, Iran wants to go ahead with the project, which 
has come under massive fire from the United States, without the 
Austrians. OMV says it does not want to comment on progress of its 
negotiations with Iran, but hopes to be able to conclude the deal by 
year-end. 
Reporting on faltering negotiations between Iran's National Iranian 
Oil Company and Austrian energy provider OMV on a controversial 
planned natural gas "mega deal," leading economics daily 
Wirtschaftblatt argues the situation is rather dicey for the OMV: 
This is also due to the fact that the United States has harshly 
criticized the planned project, and has put considerable pressure on 
the Austrian corporation to prevent the deal. The results of the 
negotiations between Tehran and OMV have not yet been presented, 
although the contract was due to be concluded by late September, the 
daily quotes the Iranian media.  Meanwhile, a spokesperson for OMV 
boss Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer told the Wirtschaftsblatt that the 
energy provider would not comment on the status of the project at 
this point, as "we're still in the middle of negotiations" with 
Iran, and is hoping to conclude the matter by the end of the year. 
 
 
Iran Reopens Border with Iraqi Kurdistan 
 
¶6. Iraqi Kurdistan officials say Iran has reopened its border 
crossings, after it had closed all crossings with the 
semi-autonomous region last month to protest the arrest of an 
Iranian man by US forces. The US military stated in September it had 
detained an Iranian it accused of smuggling roadside bombs into Iraq 
and training foreign fighters. 
According to semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung, Iran has reopened 
its border crossings with Iraqi Kurdistan after having closed all 
crossings with the semi-autonomous region last month to protest the 
arrest of an Iranian man by US forces. The Iranian, who US forces 
said was a member of the Qods Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, 
was arrested in a raid on a hotel in the Kurdish city of 
Sulaimaniya. Iranian and Iraqi officials said the man was a member 
of a trade delegation. Tensions between Washington and Tehran were 
already high over the arrest by American forces of five Iranians in 
the Kurdish city of Erbil earlier this year. Iran says they are 
diplomats, but Washington claims they supported militants operating 
in Iraq. The United States accuses Iran of training and equipping 
Shi'ite Muslim militias in Iraq and supplying roadside bombs, which 
are by far the biggest killers of US soldiers in Iraq. The Wiener 
Zeitung quotes Nechirvan Barzani, the Prime Minister of the 
Kurdistan Regional Government, as telling al Jazeera that the border 
crossings were reopened after lengthy negotiations between Iran and 
the Kurdish authorities, who succeeded in convincing Tehran "issue 
is under American control." 
Barzani also said his government was doing its best to stop Kurdish 
rebels of the PJAK, which seeks autonomy for Kurdish areas in Iran 
and shelters in Iraq's northeastern border provinces, from using its 
territory as a springboard for attacks on the Islamic Republic. 
 
 
Iranian Plot to Assassinate Putin? 
 
¶7. Kremlin officials have confirmed that Russian President Vladimir 
Putin has been warned of a plot to assassinate him during a visit to 
Iran later this week.       Iran's Foreign Ministry has dismissed 
the reports as "completely baseless." Putin is in Germany today for 
talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Iran's nuclear program is 
on the agenda, according to ORF radio early morning news 
Morgenjournal. 
 
 
Party Congress Begins in China 
 
¶8. The five-yearly congress, which is the Chinese Communist Party's 
most important political event, is underway in Beijing as of today 
and will set China's course for the next five years. President Hu 
Jintao, speaking at the Congress, emphasized that party's survival 
depended on punishing corrupt officials. He also acknowledged the 
growing gap between rich and poor, and the high cost to the 
environment of China's rapid development, reports ORF online news. 
McCaw