From the Daily Mail
Austrian authorities are investigating the validity of a diary that is thought to contain details on alleged money flows between the country’s late far-right politician Joerg Haider and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, as well as with Saddam Hussein and his sons.
Haider – who died in a car crash in 2008 – was the head of the far-right Freedom Party before breaking away to form the less successful Alliance for the Future of Austria five years ago.
During his political career, he achieved notoriety for, among other things, a visit with Saddam Hussein on the eve of the Iraq war and a friendship with Gadhafi when Libya was still an international pariah.
Extracts from the confiscated black booklet – handwritten by former Freedom Party politician Walter Meischberger – are to be published in Wednesday’s issue of Falter, a respected Vienna weekly.
A weekend report in the magazine Profil said Haider had secretly stashed up to 45 million euro in a complex network of trust accounts in Liechtenstein.
The principality’s prosecutor’s office said it had no confiscated material confirming the existence of such accounts.
According to an advance copy of the Falter article, the diary mentions a 45 million euro transfer from Gadhafi, as well as more than 10 million euro that unidentified individuals brought home from Iraq.
It also references an anonymous Haider confidant who supposedly brought a suitcase filled with 5 million euro from Switzerland to the German city of Munich for investment purposes.
According to the diary, the money came from a Swiss account belonging to the dead sons of Saddam Hussein.
Meischberger cites Haider’s former protocol chief Franz Koloini as his source, referring to him at times as ‘Franzi.’
Koloini, who could not independently be reached for comment, was quoted by Austrian broadcaster ORF as saying he met with Meischberger but told him only about rumors, not facts, and that he didn’t know if there had been payments by Saddam or Gadhafi.
Meischberger’s lawyer also could not be reached for comment. A spokesman for the Vienna public prosecutor’s office, Thomas Vecsey, confirmed the existence of the diary but declined to comment on its contents, saying it was under investigation.
A lawyer for Saddam Hussein and his family, who requested to remain anonymous, said he had no knowledge of any purported transfer of 5 million euro.