Animal rights activists claim arson attack on Novartis chief

Aug 6, 2009, 16:13 GMT

Vienna - Animal rights activists have claimed responsibility for burning down an Austrian house of the chief of pharmaceutical giant Novartis, triggering an investigation by Austria's anti- terrorism agency, the Interior Ministry confirmed Thursday.

The fire at Daniel Vasella's hunting lodge on Monday was the latest in a string of attacks against the Swiss-based company, including the theft of the ashes of Vasella's mother in late July.

A group called Militant Forces against Huntingdon (MFAH) Austria posted a message on a US website, claiming it started the blaze because of Novartis' alleged cooperation a with a major British company conducting tests on animals.

'It hasn't been your week has it, Daniel?,' MFAH wrote on the site www.directaction.info, 'This will continue until you severe all ties with Huntingdon Life Sciences.'

Neither Novartis nor Huntingdon make their cooperation partners public.

'The awful attacks on Mr Vasella, if they are animal-rights motivated, should be condemned,' Huntingdon's spokesman told the German Press Agency dpa. He said he did not want his name to be published.

Huntingdon Life Sciences is one of the largest European companies that conducts animal experiments for pharmaceutical companies.

Austria's police intelligence service, which is also involved in anti-terrorism work, has taken over parts of the investigation and has contacted authorities in Switzerland and Germany.

MFAH Austria had so far not been known in Austria, Interior Ministry spokesman Alexander Marakovits said.

'We are in the process of analyzing the claim of responsibility to see whether it is authentic,' he said.

The activists claimed they placed 60 litres of petrol around the house, which was part of Vasella's hunting estate in the Tyrol mountains.

In Switzerland, Novartis employees and facilities have been targeted by animal rights extremists in recent months. Swiss media have reported that a group called Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) was likely behind those attacks.

Huntingdon Life Sciences was targeted by militants from 2000 to 2002, the spokesman said.