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The wreckage of the car driven by Austrian far-right leader Joerg Haider in which he died in a crash early Saturday. (Getty Images)
Last update - 15:56 11/10/2008
Austria far-right leader Joerg Haider dies in car accident
By The Associated Press
Tags: Joerg Haider, Israel News 

Austrian politician Joerg Haider, whose far-right rhetoric in the 1990s was denounced as sympathetic to the Nazis, died early Saturday in a car accident.

Haider, 58, the governor of the southern province of Carinthia, had been making a return to national politics with a more moderate line, almost a decade after his party's inclusion in the Austrian government led to European Union sanctions.

Haider's car veered off the road in southern Austria after overtaking another vehicle, and overturned, police said. He was alone in the car.
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Haider suffered severe injuries to his head and chest despite wearing a
seatbelt. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, said Thomas Koperna, the hospital's medical director.

The charismatic Haider was leader of the far-right Alliance for the Future of Austria.

"For us, it's like the end of the world," Haider's spokesman and the alliance's secretary-general, Stefan Petzner, told the Austria Press Agency.

Speaking at a news conference later, a visibly emotional Petzner pledged to keep Haider's legacy alive.

"In these difficult hours, we have to be grateful for what was, and what he gave us all and what he achieved," Petzner said, his voice breaking.

Haider had attended an event in the town of Velden before the accident
happened, Petzner said.

Politicians from across the political spectrum in Austria expressed shock at Haider's sudden death.

Austrian President Heinz Fischer described Haider's death as a human tragedy.

Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer expressed his condolences to Haider's family and described him as someone who had shaped Austria's domestic political landscape over decades.

In 1999, Haider received 27 percent of the vote in national elections as
leader of the Freedom Party. The party's subsequent inclusion in the
government led to months of European Union sanctions as Haider's statements were seen as anti-Semitic or sympathetic to Adolf Hitler's labor policies.

Haider had since significantly toned down his rhetoric and in 2005 broke away from the Freedom Party to form the new alliance, meant to reflect a turn toward relative moderation.

Over the summer, he staged a comeback in national politics and helped the
alliance significantly improve its standing in Sept. 28 national elections.

Haider sought to distance himself from his rightist past, which included a comment in 1991 that the Third Reich had an orderly employment policy and a 1995 reference to concentration camps as the punishment camps of National Socialism.

Haider enjoyed tremendous popularity in Carinthia and was known by opponents and supporters alike as intelligent and politically savvy.

The impact of Haider's death on Austrian domestic politics was not immediately clear. Just last week, Haider and Heinz-Christian Strache, leader of the Freedom Party, met for what appeared to be a successful attempt to put aside their personal differences in light of their combined success at the polls. Taken together, the results of their two parties came to 28.2 percent of the ballot - putting them on nearly equal footing with the winning Social Democrats.

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.

Related articles:
  • Controversial far-right leader Haider to head Austrian rightist faction
  • Austrian teens visit Auschwitz - then vote for Joerg Haider
  • Austria vote / When an efficient far-right meets a deficient center
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      1.   oh me oh my 07:02  |  danielCanada 11/10/08
      2.   Möllemann, Haider... who is next? 08:04  |  Questionmark 11/10/08
      3.   mossad 08:28  |  heinz 11/10/08
      4.   Jörg Haider, not very popular everywhere abroad, but...... 09:13  |  Swiss (Dino) 11/10/08
      5.   TO NO 1. 09:16  |  DANNY 11/10/08
      6.   Was he wearing a seat belt? Destiny 09:38  |  semsem 11/10/08
      7.   #3 Mossad does not care about Haider 09:40  |  Elly 11/10/08
      8.   No 4:The Swiss must also be crying with poor Austrians 09:42  |  Liliane 11/10/08
      9.   Conspiracy theorists will have a field day 09:49  |  Clickfool 11/10/08
      10.   Hell, there goes Haider... 09:57  |  Michael J 11/10/08
      11.   #4 10:01  |  truly yours 11/10/08
      12.   #4. Dino. Youre right. Some hysterics as well. 10:04  |  Stephen. 11/10/08
      13.   By comparsion 10:09  |  max 11/10/08
      14.   #3 10:33  |  WJ 11/10/08
      15.   Villem Flusser, Alexander Dubcec etc 10:42  |  Fritz T. 11/10/08
      16.   simplifications 10:50  |  mchl 11/10/08
      17.   mossad? could`ve been if... 10:58  |  Harebrained 11/10/08
      18.   Heinz # 3. 11:21  |  David Nigel Braham 11/10/08
      19.   # 8 Liliane, didn`t you know, we Swiss always cry....... 11:21  |  Swiss (Dino) 11/10/08
      20.   # 11 truly yours, I`m afraid your "list" is not 100% correct..... 11:24  |  Swiss (Dino) 11/10/08
      21.   My personal encounter with Austrian xenophobia 11:25  |  Yonatan 11/10/08
      22.   Now that his gone... 11:39  |  james hazan 11/10/08
      23.   Worst case of suicide I`ve seen in years 11:56  |  Justice SixMillyan 11/10/08
      24.   # 20 Just for the record, I forgot to put a "smiley".... 11:58  |  Swiss (Dino) 11/10/08
      25.   Israelis 12:06  |  Paul Wood 11/10/08
      26.   No. 8 Crying Switzerland ? 12:11  |  Martin 11/10/08
      27.   Bavarian Heinz 12:14  |  mark hammond 11/10/08
      28.   To No 3 12:20  |  Seth 11/10/08
      29.   To Dino 12:29  |  Seth 11/10/08
      30.   # 12 Stephen, here are 2 examples...... (2nd try) 12:38  |  Swiss (Dino) 11/10/08
      31.   # 26 Martin, please read my post # 24....... 12:53  |  Swiss (Dino) 11/10/08
      32.   # 29 Seth 13:02  |  Swiss (Dino) 11/10/08
      33.   Sorry for him& his family.Not sorry to see his message go 13:07  |  PETER SM 11/10/08
      34.   he died when he was driving alone. why is that? 13:17  |  Tamir Palestine 11/10/08
      35.   What else did you expect from Austria? 13:39  |  Jerusalem Jew 11/10/08
      36.   Think how different the world would`ve been if 13:39  |  Independent 11/10/08
      37.   Only God Can Judge 13:54  |  Isaiah 11/10/08
      38.   Tamir Diana was`t alone, it`s called wreckless driving 14:02  |  Simon 11/10/08
      39.   Just the sort of thing 14:02  |  Simon Willis 11/10/2008
      40.   # 2 14:24  |  German 11/10/08
      41.   Someone misunderstood what Dino wrote. 14:24  |  Zwygart 11/10/08
      42.   Simon 38 - right and wrong 14:37  |  ChanahS 11/10/08
      43.   # 41 Zwygart, thanks very much !! :) 14:40  |  Swiss (Dino) 11/10/08
      44.   makes me weak to no. 5 14:49  |  Danielcanada 11/10/08
      45.   Compared to Israeli politicians, he was left wing 14:49  |  Tim 11/10/08
      46.   R.I.P. Joerg Haider 15:17  |  Horst Wessel 11/10/08
      47.   Joerg Haider dies 15:21  |  Werner Kämtner 11/10/08
      48.   to elly from Vienna 15:29  |  john 11/10/08
      49.   Mossad 15:31  |  David 11/10/08
      50.   # 25 15:44  |  Johnny 11/10/08
      51.   Normalization 15:56  |  Weaponx 11/10/08
      52.   #3 Haider supporters more anti-Muslim than anti-semitic 16:11  |  Conroy 11/10/08
      53.   A reasonable consideration 16:24  |  Frank 11/10/08
      54.   What now? 16:32  |  ajgorrr 11/10/08
      55.   conspiracy theory poem 16:52  |  k 11/10/08
      56.   #50 Johnny 16:53  |  Paul wood 11/10/08
      57.   #34 Tamir : Haider was reckless behind the wheel 17:09  |  Benjamina 11/10/08
      58.   #56 Paul Wood 18:11  |  Yonatan 11/10/08
      59.   Simon , 38 . 2000 deaths on Israeli roads ? 18:51  |  Charles 11/10/08
      60.   Paul Wood 56 - where is your evidence? 19:14  |  ChanahS 11/10/08
      61.   Yes Dino, and perhaps also popular in Swizterland? 19:44  |  Israeli citizen 11/10/08
      62.   #60 ChanahS 20:42  |  Paul Wood 11/10/08
      63.   to the seventh leg ??? 20:55  |  David 11/10/08
      64.   heinz 21:06  |  Connie 11/10/08
      65.   VW Phaeton 21:24  |  LeCoq 11/10/08
      66.   Driving alone at night = Increased risk of falling asleep 21:25  |  D 11/10/08
      67.   horst 46 21:28  |  Charles 11/10/08
      68.   Paul Wood 62 - Huh? 21:40  |  ChanahS 11/10/08
      69.   Chana S. That pervert gets his thrills here provoking 00:13  |  PETER SM 12/10/08
      70.