by glooperoo » Sun Jul 31, 2005 6:53 pm
Wim Duisenberg, the former European Central Bank chief who helped create the euro currency, was found dead Sunday in his swimming pool in southeastern France, <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050731/ap_on_bi_ge/obit_duisenberg">officials said</a><!--EZCODE LINK END-->:<br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr><br>An autopsy showed Duisenberg had drowned after an unspecified cardiac problem, a regional prosecutor said. He was found unconscious in the swimming pool at his home in the town of Faucon and could not be resuscitated, police said.<br><br>Duisenberg "died a natural death, due to drowning, after a cardiac problem," said Jean-Francois Sanpieri, a state prosecutor in the nearby town of Carpentras. He did not give further details about the autopsy.<br><br>Duisenberg was the first head of the ECB, serving from 1998 to 2003. Having shepherded the euro through its introduction in 1999, he became known as the father of the 12-nation European common currency.<br><hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>It also turns out that his wife created a bit of an uproar with er <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=225356&contrassID=2&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y&itemNo=225356"> controversial and high-profile stances on Israeli policy</a><!--EZCODE LINK END-->:<br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr><br>Duisenberg, 60, has been in the headlines ever since the story was first publicized in the Dutch press. She criticized Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's policies, organized a pro-Palestinian demonstration and founded an organization that calls for an end to the occupation and the imposition of economic sanctions on Israel; 6,000 people have signed the organization's petition. The Arabic press is applauding her and the Jewish community in Amsterdam is divided between supporters and opponents.<br><br>Two Jewish lawyers in Amsterdam have filed lawsuits claiming that Duisenberg is anti-Semitic. The Anti-Defamation League has called on her husband to publicly disavow her statements. The World Jewish Congress (WJC) has threatened to work to make Wim Duisenberg persona non grata in the United States. European banks are paying close attention to the ECB president's responses to the situation. One poorly considered utterance from him and the Euro could be weakened.<br><br>The ruckus began on April 13 during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Amsterdam held in response to Operation Defensive Shield. The demonstration was very unruly: Some demonstrators carried signs equating Sharon with Hitler, others beat a Jewish bystander and shouted that all the Jews should be burned in gas chambers.<br><br>"It was a very threatening and very anti-Semitic demonstration," says Van der Wieken. "The demonstrators dressed up like Hamas militants, sang Hamas songs and burned Israeli flags. In Amsterdam, you don't normally see people burning something, especially flags. The next day, we saw the PLO flag hanging from Mrs. Duisenberg's balcony."<br><br>Duisenberg took part in the demonstration alongside a group of women from Jenin. When she returned home, she hung the flag on the balcony outside her study. Journalists from all over the world tried to interview her and a television crew from Reuters even hid behind her house for several hours. When she went out to get the mail, she agreed to be interviewed.<br>...<br><hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=+250857&contrassID=1&subContrassID=9&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y">and </a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr><br>Duisenberg: IDF occupation worse than Nazi occupation of Holland<br>By Reuters<br><br>AMSTERDAM - A Dutch Jewish group on Friday called on European Central Bank chief Wim Duisenberg to distance himself from "disturbing and highly controversial" statements by his pro-Palestinian wife during a visit to the Middle East.<br><br>Europe's top central banker waded into an escalating row over his activist wife Gretta Duisenberg earlier this week after she met Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and urged Israel to stop occupying the West Bank and Gaza strip.<br><br>Gretta Duisenberg, head of Dutch group "Stop the Occupation," has been attacked by the Israeli and Dutch governments as biased. Her mission has reportedly split over concerns its message was being obscured by the Duisenberg commotion.<br><br>The Duisenberg controversy deepened on Friday when she was quoted by a Dutch newspaper comparing Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza with Nazi Germany's occupation of the Netherlands during World War Two.<br><br>"With the exception of the Holocaust, the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian areas is worse than the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands," she was quoted as saying in an interview with the Algemeen Dagblad daily newspaper.<br><br>"The cruelty of the Israelis has no limits. That they are blowing up houses of Palestinians is not rare. The Nazis never went that far during the occupation of the Netherlands," she reportedly told the Algemeen Dagblad.<br><br>Gretta Duisenberg, who last year created a storm of controversy and received a death threat after she flew a Palestinian flag from her Amsterdam family home, could not be reached for comment.<br><br><br>Wim Duisenberg earlier this week lent support to his wife in a letter to Dutch foreign minister who had criticized her use of a diplomatic passport for her trip, saying that he was 100 percent behind her.<br><br>The Center for Information and Documentation on Israel (CIDI), one of the most prominent Jewish organisations in the Netherlands, called on Wim Duisenberg in an open letter to clarify whether he supported his wife's controversial remarks.<br><br>"These statements by your wife are disturbing and highly controversial," CIDI said.<br><br>"The ECB derives its strength from operating independently from any political debate. But if we take your remark in your letter that you are 100 percent behind your wife at face value, we must conclude you approve," the group said.<br>...<br><hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>The Duisenberg's are definately interesting folks, I'll give 'em that. <p></p><i></i>
