University of South Carolina Libraries
__Nation & World Haider's resignation fails to end Austria's isolation from European Union by Robert H. Reid Associated Press Vienna, Austria — A day after re signing as leader of the far-right Freedom Party, Joeig Haider lashed out at the Eu ropean Union on Tuesday for its drive to ostracize Austria over his party’s role in government. Haider kept up the stream of invec tive against his opponents — long the hallmark of a political style that many of Europeans find offensive. In an interview with Austrian state television, Haider called the EU actions against Austria’s government “childish.” “Europe made a mistake,” he said. “You don’t treat a democratic and ex emplary country this way.” From his headquarters in Klagenfurt, where he serves as governor of Carinthia state, Haider on Tuesday dismissed Eu ropean economic sanctions as ineffective and warned the French that they must learn to deal with the Austrians when Paris takes over the rotating EU presi dency in July. Haider said traditional European politi cians fear his populist style, including his critic German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, whom he called “a former RAF sympathizer,” referring to the under ground Red Army Faction that terrorized vjeiiiuuiy in urc ly/us. Haider’s resignation was dismissed by critics as a ploy to boost his chances of leading a future Austrian government. One after another, major European countries like Britain, France and Ger many affirmed that with or without Haider as party leader, Austria’s isolation would continue so long as his party remains in government. “The problem is not Joeig Haider, but what his party represents,” Portu gal’s prime minister, Antonio Guterres, said Tuesday in Lisbon. Portugal now holds the EU rotating presidency. Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy said Haider’s resignation “does not change anything for us” because the Freedom Party remains in the government. Levy also said Israel wouldn’t return its ambassador, who was withdrawn Feb. 4 when the new ruling coalition took of fice. Haider, who won notoriety for state ments supporting Waffen SS veterans and Adolf Hitler’s “orderly” employment ‘The problem is not Joerg Haider, but what his party represents.’ Antonio Guterres prime minister of Portugal policies, announced his resignation Mon day in an apparent bid to ease interna tional criticism of the coalition with the center-right Austrian People’s Par ty of Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel. Schuessel said Tuesday that Haider, who held no national government post, was taking “a personal part in easing the tensions in the European Union.” The 14 other EU members down graded relations with Austria because of the presence of Haider’s party in the government. At EU ministerial meetings Monday, Austrian delegates were pub licly shunned. Referring to France’s term as EU pres ident, Haider said Tuesday that “if the French want to bring about results, they should treat Austria decently” be cause they can’t pass any measures if Aus tria, which remains an EU member, ex prrkpc itQ vptn Vice Chancellor Susanne Riess-Pass er, who succeeded Haider as Freedom Party chief, said she would try to con vince the world that “the prejudices against the Freedom Party are not justi fied.” Also Tuesday, Dieter Boehmdorfer, a longtime friend of Haider, was sworn in as new justice minister. He succeeds a Freedom Party member, Michael Krueger, who resigned because of stress. Krueger was hospital ized over the weekend, the Austria Press Agency said, without going into specifics. The president of the European Par liament, Nicole Fontaine, said time would tell whether the resignation “is a skillful political move” or a response to “moral pressure” from Haider critics at home and abroad. Such skepticism was also widespread within the Austrian political establish ment, where Haider has played a con troversial role since assuming leadership of the Freedom Party in 1986. Politicians walk final mile with 'Granny D' by Sandra Martinez Associated Press Washington — A 90-year-old great grandmother ended a yearlong, 3,000 mile trek Tuesday at the steps of the Capi tol, accompanied by three congressional backers of the campaign finance reform movement that inspired her journey. “As long as money is the primary factor in our election process, the wealthy and their well-heeled friends will dom inate the system,” said Doris “Granny D” Haddock, as she led a demonstration at the end of the walk she began Jan. 1, 1999, in Los Angeles. Police arrested 17 people later as they demonstrated for campaign finance reform inside the massive Rotunda be neath the Capitol dome, said Dan Nichols, spokesman for the Capitol Police. The protesters chanted and unfurled banners demanding that elections be fi nanced from the federal Treasury. They were charged for demonstrating inside the Capitol building, a charge pun ishable by a fine of $500 and six months in jail. With the help of three members of Congress, Haddock climbed the east steps of the Capitol, from where she chastised the trio’s colleagues for turning govern ment “of the people, by the people, for the people” into a government “by and for the wealthy elite.” The trio — Sen. Russ Feingold, D Wis., and Reps. Christopher Shays, R Conn., and Marty Meehan, D-Mass. — said they supported Haddock on the final leg of her trip because of her ex traordinary effort to back an issue they’ve championed for years. Feingold and Republican presiden tial candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., are co-sponsors of a campaign finance bill that has languished after being fili bustered in the last session. “This is absolutely amazing,” Fein gold said. “Every once in a while, some body or something comes to change an issue by symbolizing it, and the idea that this woman would walk across the states just to pass the McCain-Feingold bill is a dream come true.” The House passed a companion bill last year. U.S. labels Hussein a 'mad dictator' by George Gedda Associated Press Washington — Calling him a “mad dictator, ” the State Department said Tues day that Iraqi President Saddam Hus sein has been building palaces worth billions of dollars for himself and his sup porters while protesting that his country is being impoverished by U.N. econom ic sanctions. In addition, spokesman James Ru bin said that despite the sanctions, the Iraqi establishment leaders have been on a drinking binge, as shown by the ar rival aboard container sliips of laige quan tities of whiskey and smaller amounts of beer and wine. “The regime in Baghdad is consum ing more than 10,000 bottles of whiskey, 350,000 cans of beer and 700 bottles of wine per week,” Rubin said. He based the estimates on declassified aerial pho tographs, some of which he displayed at a briefing. Alcoholic beverages generally are sold openly in Iraq at special stores for private consumption, although apparently for domestic political reasons, Saddam banned them a few years ago in hotels and restaurants. As for the palaces, Rubin said the largest and most elaborate compound is four square miles, in Saddam’s hometown ofTikrit. In the Baghdad area, there are five palaces, he said. ‘The important point here is that the regime is getting drunk while it claims that its people don’t have enough to eat.’ James Rubin State Department spokesman Rubin said Iraq has been financing such extravagances through the illicit smuggling of gas and oil outside the oil for-food program allowed under the sanc tions by the United Nations. The smuggling operations, Rubin said, have “reached the unprecedented level of 100,000 barrels per day, which puts more than $25 million into the hands of Saddam’s regime.” Rubin used the presentation to counter critics who maintain that the U.N. sanc tions are causing widespread suffering by ordinary Iraqis. Among critics is Han von Sponeck, a German who resigned two weeks ago as chief of the U.N. humanitarian pro gram in Iraq. Von Sponeck has criticized the sanc tions and the oil-for-food program, which he said doesn’t meet even the most ba sic needs of Iraq’s 22 million people. He was responsible for administering the $10.5 billion program, which al lows Iraq to sell oil and use the revenues for humanitarian goods to ease civilian suffering that has resulted from the sanc tions. Rubin expressed weariness about “hearing that sanctions are responsible for the problems of the people of Iraq. It’s the government of Iraq that spends its scarce resources on these palaces... and then complains about the rest of the world causing problems for the peo ple of Iraq.” At another point, he said, “The im portant point here is that the regime is getting cffunk while it claims that its peo ple don’t have enough to eat.” The United Nations has a monitoring system to enforce the embargo and has detained 700 suspect vessels over the years, Rubin said But with smuggling lev els increasing, he said efforts are being made to strengthen the system. He added that Iran has been assist ing Iraqi violations by allowing vessels that originate in Iraq to pass through Iran ian territorial waters. He said the United States has raised the issue in the U.N. sanctions committee and will do so again. Primaries from page A4 television networks. Bush beat him else where. • In Virginia, with all of the districts reporting, Bush had 350,185 votes, or 53 percent, McCain had 290,779, or 44 per cent, and Alan Keyes had 20,294 votes, or 3 percent. • In North Dakota, with 100 percent of districts reporting, Bush had 6,865 votes, or 76 percent, McCain had 1,717 votes, or 19 percent, and Keyes had 481 votes, or 5 percent. victory in Virginia, and 14 delegates in North Dakota, giving him a total of 163 compared to McCain’s 100 so far, in cluding four from North Dakota. Keyes won one delegate in North Dakota, for a total of five. Bush’s victory fit a pattern set in the early primary fights: McCain wins if non-Republicans swarm to GOP primaries; Bush wins if Republicans dominate their primaries and caucuses. In New Hampshire and Michigan, the sites of McCain’s two victories over Bush, Democrats and independents account ed for about half the total vote. In South Carolina and Vnginia, two South ern conservative states woh by Bush, two thirds of the vote came from self-iden Virginia’s results might portend trou ble for McCain as the campaign heads in to states like California and New York that bar or place restrictions on non Republican voting. In upcoming prima ry states, Democrats will conduct com peting elections that could siphon votes from McCain. The Arizona senator had hoped to fol low his victory last week in Michigan with an upset in Virginia to fuel his mo mentum headed to March 7 contests, a “Super Tuesday” of voting that could shape the contentious campaign. At stake are 613 GOP delegates, more than half .1 .i__:__