AUSTRIAN, DANISH FMS MEET WITH MUSLIM

UNCLAS VIENNA 000506

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

SECSTATE FOR NEA, R, EUR, EUR/ERA, EUR/AGS, AND EUR/NB

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PHUM EUN SY DA BK TU SP AU
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN, DANISH FMS MEET WITH MUSLIM
REPRESENTATIVES ON CARTOON ISSUE


This cable is sensitive but unclassified


1. (U) Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, in her
capacity as EU Council President, and Danish Foreign Minister
Per Stig Moeller held an informal meeting with leading Muslim
Representatives in Vienna on February 16. Participants
included the leader of the Islamic Faith Community in
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Reis-I-Ulema Mustafa Ceric; the grand
mufti of Syria, Ahmed Bader Eddin Hassoun; and the president
of the Islamic Faith Community in Austria, Professor Anas
Schakfeh. The Bishop of Lolland-Falster, Steen Skovsgaard
(Church of Denmark) also took part. The Foreign Ministry
released a meeting summary and talking points after the
meeting, both of which are available on the Embassy's EU
Presidency SIPRnet Web site.


2. (U) In a solo press conference following the meeting,
Plassnik lauded the "small, concrete steps forward" achieved
in the meeting, saying it had taken place "in an atmosphere
of reflection and frankness" and in the spirit of Austria,s
tradition of promoting dialogue between different parties.
She noted that the participants were well known, experienced
"bridge builders" with a grass roots connection to Muslim
communities. In Plassnik,s view, the meeting had reflected
the will of all parties to seek solutions for defusing the
current confrontation and engaging in sustained constructive
dialogue. She stressed that all participants had forcefully
rejected violence as a means of resolving disputes.


3. (U) Plassnik cited some key messages from this meeting,
including:
-- The need to find grass roots support for the dialogue;
-- The need for Europe to embrace both Muslims in Europe and
its Islamic partners in the world;
-- The determination to build upon "the small network of
bridge builders established today;"
-- The intent to foster this dialogue at the youth level,
particularly through UNESCO venues.


4. (U) Responding to a press question as to whether Turkey
was an important bridge builder in this conflict, Plassnik
recalled the Turkish-Spanish "Alliance of Civilizations"
initiative under the UN umbrella and confirmed that Turkey
has a "special role and special commitment" in this conflict.

Q&A session
--------------


5. (U) Plassnik pointedly declined to answer some of the
tougher press question, such as whether EU countries should
buy more Danish products to counteract the current boycott,
or whether under the EU's solidarity clause an attack on
Danish embassies and Denmark in general should be seen as an
attack on the entire EU.


6. (SBU) COMMENT: While the dialogue in the meeting may
indeed have been productive, public perception in Austria was
that it did not fulfill expectations. The press corps in
attendance was surprised that none of the other participants,
especiallly Danish ForMin Moeller, joined Plassnik for the
press conference. However, Foreign Ministry officials we
spoke to afterwards were far more upbeat about the outcome.
McCaw