AUSTRIA ON BMENA -- BUILDING SUPPORT FOR THE

UNCLAS VIENNA 003441 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/PI - WINCUP, EUR/ERA - BONO, AND EUR/AGS - VIKMANIS-KELLER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL EAID PGOV PHUM EU XG XF AU SUBJECT: AUSTRIA ON BMENA -- BUILDING SUPPORT FOR THE FOUNDATION FOR THE FUTURE REF: STATE 190583 ¶1. On October 24, Charge delivered reftel points to Johannes Kyrle, the Austrian Foreign Ministry's Secretary General and acting deputy Foreign Minister. ¶2. Kyrle recalled that Austria had made a generous pledge at the Madrid Iraq conference in October 2003, and said the Austrian cabinet would have to consider Austria's participation in the Foundation for the Future. He would ensure that the matter was brought to the attention of the cabinet expeditiously but he could not foresee how fast the government would take a decision. The Austrians would appreciate updates on the donor list. MFA Middle East Director Ralph Scheide said the Austrian Ambassador to Kuwait (accredited to Bahrain) would likely attend the Bahrain conference as an observer. Scheide said he would like to discuss the issue further with the U.S. attendee at the upcoming conference on "Islam in a Pluralistic World," which Austria will host in Vienna November 14-16. van Voorst