© Atlantic Council / www.acus.org

30. 10. 09. - 15:00

• more General News news
• RSS Feed General News

30. 10. 09. - 15:00

Austrian UN official prevented from visiting Zimbabwe

By Lisa Chapman

Austrian UN special rapporteur on torture Manfred Nowak has been stopped from visiting Zimbabwe, it emerged today (Fri).

Nowak was stopped from leaving the airport near the capital Harare on Wednesday night after jetting in answer an invitation from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

He spent the night at the airport and was forced to take the first flight to South Africa on Thursday morning.

Nowak was incensed after the incident. "That had never happened to me before. No other government has treated me that way. This serious diplomatic incident will naturally have consequences," he told Austrian newspaper Kurier.

Nowak added that Tsvangirai had sent a delegation to the airport to meet him but it had been told once it got there that he had not been on the flight in question.

He said his fact-finding mission about the human-rights situation in Zimbabwe would have been a step in the direction of resumption of development cooperation with that country, which has been under sanctions since 2002 because of its dictator President Robert Mugabe’s behaviour.

He said the European Union and the USA had intervened in vain on his behalf while he was at the airport.

He explained: "The regime kicked in the head the very countries that were in principle prepared to help Zimbabwe. My mission is definitively dead."

The European Union has contributed 572 million Euros in humanitarian aid to Zimbabwe since 2002.

Observers say the country is in a catastrophic state with 90 per cent of its 11 million people unemployed, and 75 per cent of them living on the equivalent of one US dollar a day. Inflation reached 230 million per cent last year, and the economy has become based on barter.

Austrian Times

Related articles: political scandals

1. Hitler's gift causes renewed controversy

   » General News 2010-03-17

   Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler’s 1942 gift to the city of Linz of a duplicate statue of Greek goddess of love Aphrodite is causing renewed controversy.

2. 'Travel agent' ministers splash out millions on foreign travel

   » General News 2010-03-17

   Globe-trotting government ministers spent a whopping 2.16 million Euros on 310 trips abroad last year, the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) said yesterday (Tues).

3. Strache calls for drug addicts' centres in suburbs

   » General News 2010-03-17

   New ideas on the Viennese drug scene problem by Freedom Party (FPÖ) boss Heinz-Christian Strache is set to cause controversy.

4. Fraudster Kretschmer in wheelchair 'for the rest of his life'

   » General News 2010-03-16

   Former Salzburg Easter Festival (Osterfestspiele) technical director Klaus Kretschmer will be a paraplegic for the rest of his life, say doctors at Salzburg provincial hospital.

5. Minister makes U-turn on asylum seekers

   » General News 2010-03-16

   People’s Party (ÖVP) Interior Minister Maria Fekter has said for the first time that Austria might not need a third asylum seekers’ centre - a move seen by many as being a policy U-turn.

6. Car fuel prices lower than the EU average

   » General News 2010-03-12

   The prices of petrol and diesel-fuel in Austria are lower than the EU average, the Economics Ministry said today (Fri).

7. Nazi era mass grave discovered in Graz

   » General News 2010-03-11

   The bodies of 77 people were probably buried by the Nazis on the grounds of Graz’ Belgier barracks, where the Nazi SS’ Wetzelsdorf barracks was located, it emerged yesterday (Weds).

8. Lower Austria 'invested €40 mn in disgraced Madoff fund'

   » Business 2010-03-11

   Lower Austria has invested 40 million Euros in disgraced American Bernard Madoff’s Alpha Prime fund, says a report in today’s (Thurs) Der Standard newspaper.

9. OSCE to monitor presidential election

   » General News 2010-03-10

   The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) will send election observers to Austria for the first time since World War II to monitor next month’s presidential elections.

10. Carinthian Slovene organisation opts for self-dissolution

    » General News 2010-03-10

    The Council of Carinthian Slovenes’ executive committee voted yesterday (Tues) in favour of its dissolution, head Karel Smolle announced.

Jennifer Rostock to strike twice
German punk rock stars Jennifer Rostock will perform in Austria twice as part of their current tour, it has been announced.

Salzburg boy foils attempted abduction
A 10-year-old school boy had a narrow escape on Monday when a man tried to abduct him on his way home from school.

Siemens lay-offs may hit Austrian workers
Munich technology firm Siemens announced yesterday (Weds) that it would lay off 4,200 workers in its IT division SIS.

Schwarzenegger Museum to open in summer
The house where Arnold Schwarzenegger was born is to open as a museum.

Car dealers spared by downturn
The economic downturn has had minimal effect on Austrian car dealers as the number of newly registered cars soared last year.

Minister calls for CO2 emissions tax
Austria's environment minister has called for the introduction of a carbon tax that he says would bring in 1.5 to 2.0 billion Euros of revenue annually, according to today’s (Thurs) edition of the newspaper Die Presse.

Seasonal workers number cut
There will be 3.5 per cent fewer foreign seasonal workers in agriculture and forestry this year than in 2009, Social Democratic (SPÖ) Labour Minister Rudolf Hundstorfer said today (Thurs).

Google Street View cars to roll over Austria again
Google Street View cars are expected to drive all across Austria again this weekend as temperatures are expected to rise.

Asylum seeker tries to torch himself
An Afghan asylum seeker tried to burn himself to death at a petrol station in Hall in Tyrol’s Innsbruck-Land district yesterday (Weds), police said.

Majority believe in some kind of God
Sixty-nine per cent of Austrians believe in some kind of God, according to results of a new poll by Linz public opinion research institute IMAS released today (Thurs).