World Notes AUSTRIA

To many Austrians, President Kurt Waldheim is known as the most prominent prisoner in Vienna, as a result of the worldwide ostracism that has followed accusations of his involvement in war crimes and knowledge of the deportation to death camps of 40,000 Greek Jews during World War II. Attempts by Waldheim's staff to solicit invitations to foreign capitals have almost all been futile; the former United Nations Secretary-General is even formally banned, as an undesirable alien, from entering the U.S. But last week the prisoner of Vienna finally got a break with the announcement that he would pay an official visit to Pope John Paul II in Rome this week.

In announcing the visit, the Vatican said the meeting had been requested by the Austrian government and routinely granted. The Holy See noted its long- standing good relations with Austria and pointed to the Pope's record of condemning Nazi crimes. Many Jewish groups in the U.S. and Europe, however, felt differently. Some compared the meeting to one between the Pope and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat in 1982 and warned that the latest visit would set back Jewish-Roman Catholic relations.