Zaptel does not compile on debian etch

Hi,

i installed an fresh version of debian etch on an older system and now trying to compile an actual zaptel module. Installed all required tools but the build process fails with

asterisk:/usr/src/zaptel-1.4.9.2# ./config
config.guess   config.status  config.sub     configure
asterisk:/usr/src/zaptel-1.4.9.2# ./configure
checking for gcc... gcc
checking for C compiler default output file name... a.out
checking whether the C compiler works... yes
checking whether we are cross compiling... no
checking for suffix of executables...
checking for suffix of object files... o
checking whether we are using the GNU C compiler... yes
checking whether gcc accepts -g... yes
checking for gcc option to accept ISO C89... none needed
checking how to run the C preprocessor... gcc -E
checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether ln -s works... yes
checking for GNU make... make
checking for grep... /bin/grep
checking for sh... /bin/sh
checking for ln... /bin/ln
checking for wget... /usr/bin/wget
checking for grep that handles long lines and -e... (cached) /bin/grep
checking for egrep... /bin/grep -E
checking for ANSI C header files... yes
checking for sys/types.h... yes
checking for sys/stat.h... yes
checking for stdlib.h... yes
checking for string.h... yes
checking for memory.h... yes
checking for strings.h... yes
checking for inttypes.h... yes
checking for stdint.h... yes
checking for unistd.h... yes
checking for initscr in -lcurses... yes
checking curses.h usability... yes
checking curses.h presence... yes
checking for curses.h... yes
checking for initscr in -lncurses... yes
checking for curses.h... (cached) yes
checking for newtBell in -lnewt... yes
checking newt.h usability... yes
checking newt.h presence... yes
checking for newt.h... yes
checking for usb_init in -lusb... yes
checking usb.h usability... yes
checking usb.h presence... yes
checking for usb.h... yes
configure: creating ./config.status
config.status: creating build_tools/menuselect-deps
config.status: creating makeopts
config.status: creating build_tools/make_firmware_object
configure: *** Zaptel build successfully configured ***
asterisk:/usr/src/zaptel-1.4.9.2# make
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/zaptel-1.4.9.2/menuselect'
make[2]: Entering directory `/usr/src/zaptel-1.4.9.2/menuselect'
gcc -g -c -D_GNU_SOURCE -Wall    -c -o menuselect.o menuselect.c
gcc -g -c -D_GNU_SOURCE -Wall    -c -o strcompat.o strcompat.c
gcc -g -c -D_GNU_SOURCE -Wall    -c -o menuselect_curses.o menuselect_curses.c
checking for gcc... gcc
checking for C compiler default output file name... b.out
checking whether the C compiler works... configure: error: cannot run C compiled programs.
If you meant to cross compile, use `--host'.
See `config.log' for more details.
make[2]: *** [mxml/libmxml.a] Error 1
make[2]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/zaptel-1.4.9.2/menuselect'
make[1]: *** [all] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/zaptel-1.4.9.2/menuselect'
make: *** [menuselect/menuselect] Error 2
asterisk:/usr/src/zaptel-1.4.9.2#

anyone an idea what wents wrong here?