The World - News from May 20, 1987

Austrian President Kurt Waldheim admitted “some mistakes” in presenting his World War II service record, but he reiterated his innocence of involvement in Nazi war crimes. Last month, Waldheim was banned from the United States because of suspicion about his war record. But in a television address, he said he had fulfilled his duty in light of the “hidden force of coercion” under Hitler’s Third Reich. Waldheim was accused of minimizing or deleting aspects of his role as a German intelligence officer in the Balkans, but he said “none of this was deliberate” and that “much resulted from personal perplexity” in the face of accusations against him.