• croatiantimes.com
• romaniantimes.at
• salzburgtimes.at
• viennatimes.at
• austrianindependent.com

Today

• Vienna - VESCC English Catholic Mass
• Vienna - Unknown Underground
• Vienna - Cats
• Vienna - Andy Warhol
• Vienna - Laser Tag

23. 08. 10. - 16:00

• more General News news
• RSS Feed General News

23. 08. 10. - 16:00

Haider 'eyed Iraq cooperation in 2008'

Late right-wing leader Jörg Haider tried to create business connections between the province of Carinthia and Iraq two years after the execution of dictator Saddam Hussein, it has been claimed.

Viennese newspaper Die Presse reports today (Mon) it has gotten hold of a letter by the late Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) founder inviting Iraqi Minister of Oil Hussain al-Shahristani to Carinthia in March 2008.

Haider expressed a wish for "cooperation between Iraq and Carinthia, considering once intense Arabian-Austrian relations", according to the document.

Die Presse claims the Iraqi politician did not accept the invitation extended just around half a year before early general elections were held in Austria. Haider’s BZÖ garnered a sensational 10.7 per cent, up by 6.6 percentage points from 2006. The former Freedom Party (FPÖ) leader acted as front runner of the party he had founded in 2005. Haider died after a boozy night out in a car crash in October 2008.

Al-Shahristani was arrested by Hussein’s henchmen in 1980 and subsequently tortured at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison.

Austrian media have been speculating that Haider financed his new party with money received by Hussein and Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi after profil claimed a few weeks ago that around five million Euros had been discovered in Liechtenstein.

The magazine reported that an overall 45 million Euros were once hoarded in anonymous accounts in the principality bordering Austria before Haider allies lost most of it in risky investments.

Those claims come amid reports by the BZÖ admitting bottlenecks, while FPÖ officials claimed Haider had left the party close to bankruptcy when all FPÖ ministers and he walked out to form the BZÖ five years ago.

BZÖ chief Josef Bucher and FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache have demanded that all claims and speculation about money from Iraq and Libya be clarified.

BZÖ Styria boss Gerald Grosz has meanwhile compared Austrian media to infamous Third Reich newspaper Der Stürmer. Grosz claimed some dailies, magazines and TV stations were only trying to harm Haider’s reputation years after his death, adding that their actions reminded him of the Nazis’ persecution of Jewish people in the 1930s and 1940s.

Meanwhile, a Carinthian businessman has confirmed reports that Haider received money from Hussein. Franz Limpl, who has been working and living in Iraqi capital Baghdad for more than 25 years, organised the right-wing politician’s controversial trips to the country.

Limpl told profil that Haider had received 500,000 US dollars (393,000 Euros) after his controversial 2002 meeting with the feared dictator before getting a further two million US dollars (1.574 million Euros).

Limpl claimed that then Haider spokesman Karl-Heinz Petritz had complained after the first payment. "He had expected one to two million (US) dollars," Limpl told profil.

The entrepreneur explained: "The money was transferred to Petritz by an Iraqi businessman living in St. Veit an der Glan (in Carinthia). After (Haider’s) second visit (to Iraq), two million US dollars were paid."

Limpl added: "Petritz told me that empty party coffers had to be filled to have money for election campaigns and marketing campaigns at hand."

A 2008 document by the Iraqi interior ministry leaked to the press says that Haider and the BZÖ's Edwald (sic) Stadler "received the amount of five million US Dollars (3.96 million Euros) from Saddam Hussein against their services to him".

While BZÖ officials claimed the document was fake, Austrian newspapers said Hussein hoped to improve his image in Europe by meeting Haider.

The controversial politician had branded former US President George W. Bush and ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair "war criminals" over their decision to invade Iraq. Haider also spoke out against Hussein’s execution.

The late Carinthian governor always claimed that he had met with Hussein to create business connections between Iraq and Carinthia. Austrian Ö1 radio however claimed not a single order or any cooperation resulted from the meetings.

Prosecutors in Austrian and Liechtenstein have remained tight-lipped about the speculation, while some media have claimed investigations of former Haider aides were already underway. Profil has reported that its business writers Ulla Schmid and Michael Nikbakhsh were recently questioned by officials over their revelations.

Austrian Times

Related articles: right-wing Austria

1. Pröll outpaces friends and foes in capability check

   » General News 2012-05-23

   Austria’s longest-serving governor has been identified as the most capable one in the opinion of citizens.

2. BZÖ ends Stronach speculations

   » General News 2012-05-18

   The Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) has finally dismissed the circulating rumours about teaming up with a billionaire businessman.

3. BZÖ farewell possible, poll shows

   » General News 2012-05-17

   The chances of the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) to avoid dropping out of parliament are waning, according to a new poll.

more related articles tagged "right-wing Austria"

Related articles: political scandals

1. Coalition accelerates anti-corruption ambitions

   » General News 2012-05-24

   The government is intensifying its attempts to pass a transparency package in parliament.

2. Army pays 2,000 staff for being idle

   » General News 2012-05-23

   The pressure on Social Democratic (SPÖ) Defence and Sport Minister Norbert Darabos is increasing as a new Audit Office (RH) examination indicates a waste of taxpayers’ money by the army.

3. Foul-mouthed MPs might face fines

   » General News 2012-05-23

   Fritz Neugebauer has started another attempt to introduce a system of fees for abusive parliament delegates (MPs).

more related articles tagged "political scandals"

Related articles: election news

1. BZÖ ends Stronach speculations

   » General News 2012-05-18

   The Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) has finally dismissed the circulating rumours about teaming up with a billionaire businessman.

2. Foreign minister rules out stop of support for Greece

   » General News 2012-05-18

   Austrian Vice Chancellor Michael Spindelegger has promised that the European Union (EU) will not let Greece down.

3. BZÖ farewell possible, poll shows

   » General News 2012-05-17

   The chances of the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) to avoid dropping out of parliament are waning, according to a new poll.

more related articles tagged "election news"

Related articles: business scandals

1. Coalition accelerates anti-corruption ambitions

   » General News 2012-05-24

   The government is intensifying its attempts to pass a transparency package in parliament.

2. Pecik defends TA engagement

   » Business 2012-05-24

   Telekom Austria (TA) investor Ronny Pecik has declared himself a team player.

3. Petrol traders plan legal action

   » Business 2012-05-17

   The domestic mineral oil industry plans to sue the government about plans to set up a tool regulating fuel prices.

more related articles tagged "business scandals"

Turks flattened by lone asylum seeker
A furious Nigerian went on the rampage at a refuge for asylum seekers in Leibnitz, attacking several people and damaging property.

Woman bites toddler
A woman who bit a two-year-old tot during a road rage row with her mother is being quizzed by police in Wiener Neustadt, Austria.

New Dany Boon comedy to be filmed in Austria
The French film star Dany Boon, one of the highest paid actors in Europe after his hit film "Welcome to the Sticks", is filming in Salzburg.

China meets Hallstatt
After a long time of speculation and anticipation the exact copy of Austrian world heritage village of Hallstatt-Dachstein in China will be unveiled, and there will be real-life Austrians present for the ceremony.

Skier in court after accident
A man from Graz is in court today accused of having inflicted negligent injury upon a five-year-old when skiing in Carinthia last year.

Two fires in Ottakring claim one life
Two fires started on Thursday evening in the Vienna district of Ottakring, one of which claimed a man’s life. Several people were evacuated as a result of the two blazes.

Cows zapped to death by lightning
Four cows were zapped to death after a lightning strike hit the barbed wire fence they were leaning on in Reith im Alpbachtal, Austria.

Wolf babies born in Schönbrunn
These cuddly Artic wolf cubs have got every right to look a bit frosty - after they emerged into the world for the first time in the middle of a 27 degree heatwave.

Cleaned Out
A Hungarian cleaning woman who stole tens of thousands of pounds worth of antique jewellery from an Austrian Countess and then sold it for "pocket money" unaware of its real value has been jailed by a court in Austria.

Great expectations for summer tourism season in Vorarlberg
The Vorarlberg tourism industry is currently riding high after a record breaking winter season, and the summer season is expected to follow that same trend.

Jobs in Austria