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TAGS: OPRC KPAO AU
 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: March 11, 2008 
 
 
President Meets SPOe, OeVP Leaders 
 
¶1. All Austrian media report that President Heinz Fischer invited 
the leaders of the government coalition, Chancellor Alfred 
Gusenbauer (SPOe) and Vice-Chancellor Wilhelm Molterer (OeVP), to 
talks at the Hofburg yesterday, in an attempt to resolve the current 
political deadlock. Details of the meeting have not been made public 
at this point, but undoubtedly the President urged Gusenbauer and 
Molterer to improve cooperation, the media suggest. The President 
"is trying to save the coalition," one Austrian daily headlines. 
Still, despite Fischer's efforts, and although the OeVP is not 
expected to table a motion in Parliament this week on bringing 
forward the general elections after all, many political analysts 
believe the question is no longer if, but when early elections will 
be held. 
All Austrian media report that in an "effort to save the coalition," 
as liberal daily Der Standard says, President Heinz Fischer invited 
Chancellor Gusenbauer and Vice-Chancellor Molterer to the Hofburg 
for "closed door" talks on the government deadlock. On ORF radio 
early morning news Morgenjournal, political analyst Emmerich Talos 
says like many observers he expects the general elections scheduled 
for 2010 will be brought forward:  "There is no way for the SPOe to 
back down from its demand for tax cuts; the rift between the Social 
Democrats and the People's Party has become so deep there is no way 
to close it any longer. (...) Even if early elections before the 
summer are not an option, the alienation between the SPOe and the 
OeVP has reached a level that makes it highly unlikely, in my view, 
for the two parties to reach a compromise in fall on the key topics, 
such as tax reform or healthcare reform.  (...) I believe there were 
problems between the two parties from the word go, (...) and fair 
words won't help if the coalition partners cannot find common ground 
to work on." 
Meanwhile, in an interview with semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung, 
political analyst Peter Hajek suggests that early elections "would 
have only one winner, the FPOe." The Lower Austrian provincial 
election "should have the SPOe's alarm bells ringing." Currently, 
only one party can be "certain of victory, should the general 
elections be brought forward, and that is the FPOe. (...) For the 
two major parties, the SPOe and the OeVP, an early vote would 
constitute an incalculable risk." 
 
 
FPOe Rejects Support of a Minority Government 
 
¶2. FPOe leader Heinz-Christian Strache has said his party will not 
play the role of supporter of a minority government in Parliament if 
the SPOe-OeVP governing coalition collapses. He left open the 
question of the party's vote on a motion to dissolve the government 
and hold an early general election, but he added that FPOe MPs might 
vote for it. Strache asserted that OeVP support of an early election 
after its resounding victory Sunday in Upper Austria's provincial 
election would constitute "a transparent, tactical game." He 
declared the FPOe would be ready to enter into a governing coalition 
after an early election, arguing that "another grand coalition with 
the same old faces," would be "a bad joke. The political dinosaurs," 
Strache claimed, had already failed and needed to be replaced, says 
semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung. 
 
 
 
Al Qaeda Allegedly Holding 2 Austrians Hostage 
 
¶3. The militant group "al Qaeda in Islamic North Africa," a branch 
of terrorist network al Qaeda, is claiming it has taken hostage two 
Austrian tourists in Tunisia. In a message broadcast on al Jazeera 
television, the group said they had kidnapped the two Austrians on 
February 22, and that they are "in good health." The group is 
expected to come forward with conditions for the Austrian man and 
woman's release soon, al Jazeera suggests. Meanwhile, the Austrian 
Foreign Ministry has explained the audiotape is currently being 
analyzed, but it has not confirmed the hostage taking at this point. 
The al Qaeda group reportedly said the kidnapping was in retribution 
for Western cooperation with Israel. 
With regard to the two Austrian tourists, who -- according to Arab 
TV network al Jazeera -- were taken hostage by al Qaeda in Tunisia 
in February, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal 
confirmed on ORF radio's early morning news Morgenjournal that the 
video message was currently being analyzed. The "safety of the two 
alleged hostages" remains at the top of the Ministry's agenda, the 
spokesperson added. Centrist daily Die Presse in its report points 
out that North Africa is increasingly turning into a preferred 
region for dangerous Islamic groups. The organization "al Qaeda in 
Islamic North Africa" has succeeded in pooling these forces, the 
daily says. In an interview with the newspaper, Islam expert Rolf 
Tophoven says the group is "aiming at toppling the moderate 
governments in the region. Pro-Western countries like Tunisia and 
Morocco are their prime targets." At this early stage, "it is 
extremely difficult to say what the group might want to accomplish 
with the kidnapping. A large-scale attempt at blackmailing the 
Austrian government seems unlikely, as there are no big politically 
motivated demands they kidnappers could make. Because of its low 
profile with regard to fighting terrorism Austria is not a prime 
focus of Al Qaeda." Thus, the kidnapping of tourists "always also 
targets the tourist industry as a source of revenue. The terrorists' 
underlying strategy is to weaken the countries concerned." 
 
 
Bomb Attacks in Pakistan 
 
¶4. At least 15 people have been killed bomb blasts in Lahore in 
Pakistan. One explosion occurred outside the police headquarters, 
and the second bomb attack was in a mainly residential neighborhood, 
according to ORF radio early morning news Morgenjournal. 
 
 
Obama Dismissed Double Ticket Hints 
 
¶5. Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has dismissed the 
idea of becoming Hillary Clinton's running mate in the US 
presidential election. In recent days the Clinton campaign has 
repeatedly suggested a "dream ticket" combining the two Democratic 
Party candidates might be a possibility. However, Obama said the 
proposal made no sense because he was ahead in the race: "I'm not 
running for Vice-President, I am running for President of the United 
States of America," Austrian media quote. Clinton and Obama are 
gearing up for Tuesday's primary in Mississippi, the latest in the 
battle for the Democratic Party nomination, ORF online news writes. 
 
 
 
UN Criticizes Israeli Housing Plan 
 
¶6. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has called on Israel to stop 
plans to build hundreds of new homes in the occupied West Bank: "Any 
settlement expansion is contrary to Israel's obligations under the 
road map and to international law." The Secretary General called on 
the government of Israel to "halt settlement expansion" and 
reiterated that the "fulfillment of road map obligations by both 
parties is an important measure underpinning the political process 
between them." Meanwhile, US President George Bush has said he is 
sending Vice-President Dick Cheney to the Middle East next week, in 
a renewed effort to encourage the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, 
says ORF online news. 
Kilner