Haider questioned in spying scandal

Another protest: Haider thrives on controversy

Detectives in Austria have questioned the leading far-right Austrian politician, Joerg Haider, about allegations of spying on political opponents and critics.

Mr Haider and other senior members of his Freedom Party have been accused of using confidential police files for these purposes.

The allegations first appeared in early October in a book by a former policeman, who said that police had been bribed to hand over information.

The Freedom Party is the junior partner in Austria's coalition government.

Denial

Mr Haider, governor of the southern province of Carinthia, described his questioning by police as "intolerable", and said it "had nothing to do with a law-based state".

Haider denies the allegations

He said the documents about which he was being questioned had been found at the home of his former bodyguard, Horst Binder, a policeman.

Mr Haider said the document had been manipulated - but he would not say in what way.

Mr Binder now works in the police intelligence branch.

On Monday, Mr Binder and 10 other policemen with suspected links to the Freedom Party were suspended from their posts for allegedly procuring classified documents for Mr Haider.

Unauthorised use of such documents is illegal.

Sanctions

The BBC's Vienna correspondent says the scandal is threatening to engulf the Freedom Party.

Mr Haider gained notoriety for making statements seen as sympathetic to the Nazi regime and critical of the European Union.

The other 14 EU members imposed diplomatic sanctions on Austria after Mr Haider's party joined the Austrian government in February, but lifted them in September.