Austrian President Thomas Klestil has appealed to the nation to support the country's new government amid rising protests against the inclusion of the far-right Freedom Party in the new coalition.

President Klestil said the new government was bound by the principles of liberty, democracy and respect for human rights.

But its swearing-in on Friday brought thousands of demonstrators onto the streets of Vienna and other provincial capitals in protests that have become increasingly violent.

Mr Klestil is known to be hostile to the coalition, but he insisted that the new government's parliamentary majority had to be respected.

"The reactions to the formation of this government are so strong that great efforts will have to be made at home and abroad to refute prejudices and unjustified criticism," he said in a television address on Friday night.

"Therefore, I ask all political forces in our country, all Austrians, and also our partners in the European Union and in the world to give the new federal government a chance and to judge it by its work.

"I ask you, dear Austrians, to give us your support and your trust for this great task."

Baton-charges

Earlier in the day, ministers in the new government had to go to the swearing-in ceremony at the presidential palace through an underground tunnel to avoid crowds demonstrating against the Freedom Party and its controversial leader, Joerg Haider.

Police baton-charged jeering demonstrators who were shouting "Haider is a fascist" and holding up placards reading "Shame" and "Haider's Austria is not my Austria". There were smaller protests in other cities.

Security forces ringed the chancellery with police vans and riot police with muzzled dogs as the new chancellor, conservative leader Wolfgang Schuessel, chaired his first cabinet meeting.

He said he was fully aware of the mountain the new government - which contains six members from the Freedom Party and six from his Austrian People's Party - would have to climb.

"We know that it won't be easy to win the hearts of the people ... but we also know that Austria needs an effective government to introduce a courageous reform programme," he told reporters.

But Mr Schuessel hit back at critics, describing condemnation by the European Union as completely unacceptable.

He said Austria was not a pariah state and was not giving rise to a new Hitler.

Ostracism

The swearing-in came as the international community stepped up pressure on Austria in protest at the participation of the Freedom Party in the coalition.

Austria's EU partners are imposing immediate political sanctions in an attempt to isolate the new government.

And the United States announced it was temporarily recalling its ambassador for consultations, saying it was "deeply concerned".

"We have decided to limit our contacts with the new government and we will see whether further actions are necessary to advance our support for democratic values," US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told a news conference in Washington.

She said there should be no place in a European government for a political party that "doesn't distance itself clearly from the atrocities of the Nazi era and the politics of hate".

Israel, too, has recalled its ambassador and has told Mr Haider that he will not be allowed into the country.

The man at the centre of the crisis will not himself have a seat in the Austrian cabinet but is certain to play an influential role behind the scenes.

Mr Haider is best known abroad for remarks belittling the crimes of the Nazis, for which he has apologised.

Earlier this week he again sought to distance himself from past comments lauding Hitler's employment policies and praising the "decency" of Waffen SS veterans.

But, in an interview on German television, he said it was an affront to the Austrian public that he had been obliged by President Klestil to sign a declaration undertaking to uphold democratic values and take a "self-critical" look at Austria's Nazi past.