Austrian far-right leader dies in car crash
Last Updated: Saturday, October 11, 2008 | 11:59 AM ET
CBC News
Austrian politician Joerg Haider, whose far-right rhetoric drew international criticism, died Saturday morning after the car he was driving veered off the road, crashed into a concrete pillar and overturned, police said.
Joerg Haider, seen in this Aug. 9, 2008, photo, died in a car accident Saturday in southern Austria. (Gert Eggenberger/Associated Press) The governor of Austria’s Carinthia province suffered multiple injuries and was pronounced dead in a hospital.
His Volkswagen Phaeton left the road after he had passed another car near the city of Klagenfurt in southern Austria, police said. Haider was alone in the vehicle and was wearing a seatbelt, investigators said.
Officials said they do not suspect foul play, but are investigating.
Haider, 58, was leader of the nationalist Alliance for the Future of Austria, a party he formed after breaking away from the far-right Freedom party in 2005.
In the 1990s, as Freedom party leader, he described Second World War concentration camps as "punishment camps." Later that year, he said the Nazi SS was "a part of the German army which should be honoured."
The wreckage of the car is seen at the scene of the accident in Lambichl, near Klagenfurt, Austria. (Gert Eggenberger/Associated Press) He apologized for his comments and denied he supported Nazi policies. Still, in 1999, the European Union imposed seven months of diplomatic sanctions on Austria after Haider's party won 27 per cent of the vote in parliamentary elections.
In elections last month, the Alliance for the Future of Austria gained 11 per cent of the vote, while the Freedom party, headed by Heinz-Christian Strache, earned 18 per cent.
Both parties advocate an end to immigration and the expulsion of foreigners and asylum seekers who commit crimes.
Austrian President Heinz Fischer described Haider's death as a "human tragedy."
The impact of Haider's death on Austrian domestic politics was not immediately clear.
Haider is survived by his wife, two daughters and his mother, whose 90th birthday he and his family had planned to celebrate over the weekend.
With files from the Associated Press
