VIENNA, Sept 7 (Hina) - The Austrian press on Saturday commented extensively on Wednesday's event when two Croats were arrested after some arms and a few kilograms of explosive were detected in their car. As they were nabbed ahead of
the meeting between Austrian and Croatian Presidents in Vienna, it was suspected that the apprehended men had planned an assassination attempt on Croatia's head of state, Stjepan Mesic.
VIENNA, Sept 7 (Hina) - The Austrian press on Saturday commented
extensively on Wednesday's event when two Croats were arrested
after some arms and a few kilograms of explosive were detected in
their car. As they were nabbed ahead of the meeting between Austrian
and Croatian Presidents in Vienna, it was suspected that the
apprehended men had planned an assassination attempt on Croatia's
head of state, Stjepan Mesic. #L#
The Carinthian issue of the "Kleine Zeitung" daily on Friday
published an article headlined " Alert Due to Terrorism at The
Border". The daily reported that upon the two men's apprehension
and prior to the Mesic's meeting with his Austrian counterpart
Thomas Klestil, a state of emergency was introduced at the
Austrian-Slovene border-crossing.
Security measures were stepped up at all border-lines towards
south-eastern European countries, the Austrian electronic media
reported on Friday, and connected the arrest of the two Croats with
a possible assassination attempt on Mesic.
On Saturday, another daily "Kurier" published an article headlined
"Two Croats Come with Arms and Explosive". The paper said that
"Carinthian customs officers found a hidden arsenal of arms in the
car" and that the police were investigating whether there were
plans for the assassination of Mesic.
"Kurier" quoted the two Croat suspects, who had been taken in
custody, as saying that they were travelling to Munich to buy car
parts and that they had not known a thing about the explosive or any
assassination.
So far there has been no indication that the suspect were really
planning to carry out assassination or that they had any political
motive for such a plot, the daily said.
Saturday's issue of "Kronen Zeitung" reported that on Wednesday
during a routine inspection of a VW Golf, in which there were the two
Croats aged 37 and 26, customs officers seized three kilograms of
explosive and some arms. The paper does not rule out a possibility
about an assassination plot against Mesic who met Klestil in Vienna
on 6 September.
Both arrested men denied that they might be terrorists, but the
paper reported that the older suspect had a criminal record as a
convicted killer and added that he had been a soldier in the "Balkan
war". An investigations is underway, said the Austrian daily with
the highest circulation.
(hina) ms