<\/p>\nAFP, le 6 juillet 2008 \u00e0 14h40 <\/font>Otages autrichiens: Vienne confirme les difficult\u00e9s de contact t\u00e9l\u00e9phonique<\/font><\/p>\n<\/strong><\/div>\n
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VIENNE, 6 juil 2008 (AFP) – Le porte-parole du minist\u00e8re autrichien des Affaires \u00e9trang\u00e8res a confirm\u00e9 dimanche les difficult\u00e9s rencontr\u00e9es par les familles des deux otages autrichiens d\u00e9tenus dans le nord du Mali \u00e0 entrer en contact t\u00e9l\u00e9phonique avec eux. \u00ab\u00a0Les familles sont tr\u00e8s inqui\u00e8tes \u00e0 cause des nouvelles sur l’\u00e9tat de sant\u00e9 de l’un des otages. Hier elles n’arrivaient pas \u00e0 les joindre, ce matin non plus\u00a0\u00bb, a indiqu\u00e9 \u00e0 l’AFP Peter Launsky-Tiefenthal. Samedi, M. M\u00fcller, qui est selon le minist\u00e8re autrichien des Affaires \u00e9trang\u00e8res un ami de la famille, avait d\u00e9clar\u00e9 que le contact t\u00e9l\u00e9phonique \u00e9tait rompu \u00ab\u00a0depuis 48 heures\u00a0\u00bb. \u00ab\u00a0Qu’ils nous appellent pour nous rassurer\u00a0\u00bb, avait implor\u00e9 M. M\u00fcller. Une source proche du dossier avait affirm\u00e9 vendredi \u00e0 l’AFP qu’un des deux otages \u00e9tait \u00ab\u00a0tr\u00e8s souffrant\u00a0\u00bb. \u00ab\u00a0On doit le mettre sous surveillance m\u00e9dicale, c’est urgent\u00a0\u00bb, avait pr\u00e9cis\u00e9 sous couvert de l’anonymat \u00e0 l’AFP cette source proche du dossier, qui n’a cependant pas pr\u00e9cis\u00e9 l’identit\u00e9 de l’otage, ni le mal dont il souffre. Il pourrait s’agir de Wolfgang Ebner, 51 ans, qui avait annonc\u00e9 mi-juin \u00e0 son fils qu’il souffrait du chol\u00e9ra et du paludisme, lors d’une conversation\u00a0 t\u00e9l\u00e9phonique qui a \u00e9t\u00e9 le premier signe de vie depuis 110 jours.<\/div>\n
M. Ebner et sa compagne Andrea Kloiber, 44 ans, originaires de la r\u00e9gion de Salzbourg (nord de l’Autriche), ont disparu le 22 f\u00e9vrier dans le sud de la Tunisie. Selon des sources concordantes, ils se trouvent actuellement dans le nord du Mali. L’enl\u00e8vement du couple a \u00e9t\u00e9 revendiqu\u00e9 le 10 mars par la Branche d’Al-Qa\u00efda au Maghreb islamique (ex-Groupe salafiste pour la pr\u00e9dication et le combat, GSPC alg\u00e9rien), qui avait initialement exig\u00e9 la lib\u00e9ration d’islamistes d\u00e9tenus en Alg\u00e9rie et en Tunisie. Les ravisseurs auraient \u00e9galement exig\u00e9 une ran\u00e7on de 5 millions d’euros,\u00a0 r\u00e9cemment r\u00e9duite \u00e0 2 millions d’euros, selon une proche du dossier.
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<\/p>\nReuters, le 7 juillet 2008 \u00e0 13h09 <\/font>ANALYSIS-Turkey political strife puts EU in dilemma<\/font><\/h3>\n<\/strong><\/div>\n
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By Paul Taylor, European Affairs Editor<\/font><\/strong> BRUSSELS, July 7 (Reuters) – The European Union is in a dilemma over how to respond to worsening political tension in Turkey, which is shaking political and financial stability in its largest and most difficult candidate country.The prospect of the Constitutional Court banning the ruling AK party and barring Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan from office for alleged Islamist subversion has revived debate on whether Turkey is fit to become an EU member. A wave of arrests including former generals and journalists over an alleged coup plot has also sharpened concerns about the role of the military, and in some quarters about human rights. \u00ab\u00a0Real friends of Turkey see this as a challenge and think we have to take risks and speak out,\u00a0\u00bb said a senior EU source, acknowledging Europe may have little influence on events. \u00ab\u00a0Those for whom Turkey will never become a member of the EU don’t really care,\u00a0\u00bb he said. Neither supporters nor opponents of Turkish accession want to see a strategically vital NATO ally and energy hub at the hinge of Europe, the Middle East and the Caucasus destabilised. But Ankara’s biggest backers in the 27-nation bloc, such as Britain and Sweden, are most concerned about what some call a looming \u00ab\u00a0judicial coup\u00a0\u00bb against the elected government. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said in a speech in May: \u00ab\u00a0The people who should choose the government of Turkey are its voters, not its lawyers.\u00a0\u00bb Opponents of Turkish entry sound almost relieved at seeing the country damage its own European democratic credentials. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has long opposed Turkish EU membership, arguing that the poor, secular but overwhelmingly Muslim country of 70 million is not geographically in Europe. \u00ab\u00a0Given what’s happening currently in Turkey, you can really see that the prospect of accession is becoming more distant,\u00a0\u00bb a senior source in Sarkozy’s office said last week, as Paris took over the EU presidency for six months. \u00ab\u00a0If they start banning the ruling party now, that’s very interesting. That judicial novelty should be thrown at all thosewho wanted to accelerate Turkey’s integration into Europe,\u00a0\u00bb the source said. EUROPEAN NORMS<\/font><\/strong> EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has taken a tough line on the state prosecutor’s attempt to close the AK party, accused of seeking to establish an Islamic state. He says such a move would not be in line with European norms. Rehn has repeatedly stated that in a European democracy, the balance between religion and secularism should be decided at the ballot box and in parliament, not in the courts. The AK party has its roots in political Islam, but in its nearly six years in power EU officials say it has increased rather than restricted civil liberties, even though they would have wished to see more reforms in freedom of expression. EU officials following the case note the prosecutor has refined his charges, accusing the AK party of seeking to introduce Islamic Sharia law, a charge used to outlaw the Refah (Welfare) party in the 1990s which was upheld by the European Court of Justice and makes it harder for Brussels to criticise. Some member states have criticised Rehn privately for speaking out so strongly, either because they feel Brussels is exceeding its powers, or because they are concerned the EU seems to be favouring Erdogan in a domestic political struggle. \u00ab\u00a0The Commission should not have been so present in Turkey’s internal debate,\u00a0\u00bb said Dorothee Schmid, an expert on Turkey at the French Institute for International Relations. \u00ab\u00a0It should not have taken sides. It’s not so clear to see where the pro-Europeans are,\u00a0\u00bb she said. Rehn has stopped short of saying Brussels would propose suspending entry negotiations if the AK party is banned, but he has made clear there could not be business as usual and the EU would be obliged to review the accession process. The EU negotiating framework says that in case of a serious and persistent breach of the so-called Copenhagen criteria on democracy, human rights and the rule of law, the Commission or one-third of member states may seek a formal suspension. EU foreign ministers would then decide by qualified majority vote. The senior source said Brussels was more likely to suggest an informal time-out, since the political situation in the aftermath of a ban on the AK party would probably be confused with the prospect of an early general election. \u00ab\u00a0We may have to say we expect Turkey to restore democratic legitimacy and correct errors in the political and legal system and recommit to the EU accession process and its conditions,\u00a0\u00bb the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the EU executive has not yet taken a position on the issue. REUTERS<\/font><\/strong><\/div>\n