FIRST OFF . . .

British producer Jack Saltman says he has lined up 70 witnesses, including some who served with Kurt Waldheim in World War II, to give evidence at a televised “trial” of allegations the Austrian president was involved in Nazi atrocities. Beginning April 13, lawyers will spend nine days examining witnesses as if they were in a court of law. A panel of retired jurists will decide whether there is probable cause that Waldheim acted contrary to international laws of war. A four-hour edited version of the program--a co-production between Britain’s Thames Television and Home Box Office--is scheduled for a June broadcast in the United States and abroad. Stations in France, Scandinavia, Israel, Italy and Australia plan to air the program, and negotiations with a West German station are under way. Austrian television has also been approached about airing the program, but there’s no sign it will do so, Saltman said. In February, a panel of military historians said it could find no proof of Waldheim’s personal involvement in war crimes but declared that he “repeatedly assisted” with “illegal actions.”