AUSTRIA: 2009 COUNTRY REPORTS ON TERRORISM

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 VIENNA 001589 DEPARTMENT FOR S/CT (SHORE) AND NCTC SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER ASEC KCRM KHLS EFIN KHLS KPAO AU SUBJECT: AUSTRIA: 2009 COUNTRY REPORTS ON TERRORISM REF: STATE 109980 VIENNA 00001589 001.2 OF 003 ¶1. Per reftel, Post is submitting the 2009 Country Report on Terrorism for Austria. Embassy POC for this report is Political Unit Chief Phil Kaplan, office phone: 43-1-31339-2114; email: kaplanpw@state.gov. Introduction and General Assessment -------------- ¶2. According to Austria's counterterrorism agency, the Bureau for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism (BVT),there is a growing number of radicalized individuals among second- and third-generation Muslim immigrants and among converts to Islam in the country. ¶3. Austria has a fairly comprehensive anti-terrorism and anti-monitoring legislative framework in place. The government in December 2009 introduced a bill that will make it a crime to attend terrorist training camps abroad or to receive terrorism training on the internet. Terrorism Cases -------------- ¶4. Austria's Supreme Court in August 2009 upheld a prison sentence for a young Muslim couple jailed for terrorist threats conveyed through the internet in late 2007. In a related development, a Canadian court ruled in October 2009 that a Moroccan national, who had maintained close contact with the Austrian Muslim couple, was guilty of having planned bomb attacks against OPEC, UN sites and German facilities in Austria and Germany in 2007. ¶5. The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) criticized Austria in 2009 for failing to provide adequate security for Chechen asylum applicant Umar Israilov, who was murdered in Vienna in January 2009 by what were believed to be hit men in the pay of Chechen leader Ramsan Kadyrov. Israilov had been the key witness supporting a lawsuit by the ECCHR against Kadyrov. Austrian authorities believe the main assassin fled to Russia and have requested his extradition. ¶6. A visiting Sikh cleric was killed and scores injured in May 2009 when members of a Sikh sect attacked a rival sect at a Vienna temple. The attack triggered violent riots in India. Four of the six attackers were asylum applicants - a fact that led to domestic debate about Austrian asylum policy. In reaction, the Austrian interior ministry set up a special task force to monitor internal conflicts within Austria's ethnic communities, including the 3,000-member Indian community. ¶7. Of the 130,000 Turks in Austria, some 4,000 are believed to be sympathizers of the PKK. Some Turks in Austria support Turkish jihadist Metin Kaplan. In past years, Austria regularly witnessed minor, violent conflicts between Turkish and Kurdish groups, but there were no major confrontations during 2009. In a separate development, a Turkish national of Kurdish origin was placed under pre-deportation custody in Wels, Upper Austria in 2009 under an international warrant accusing him of membership in a terrorist organization. The 31-year old had lived under asylum status in Switzerland and Germany before being arrested in Austria. Terrorism Financing -------------- ¶8. Austria closely follows EU policies to fight terrorist financing. The GOA actively participates in the EU Clearinghouse mechanism, which designates terrorist financiers under UNSCR 1373. During 2009, Austria fulfilled its obligations to freeze assets, pursuant to UNSC resolutions and EU Clearinghouse designations, but did not initiate any freezing actions independently. In 2009, Parliament passed two new relevant laws. The Administrative Assistance Implementing Act provides a new basis for handling foreign authorities' assistance requests for exchange of tax information. Austrian authorities will provide information in tax proceedings, including data formerly blocked by bank secrecy regulations. The Law on Payment Services integrates European Council Directive 2007/64/EC on payment services into domestic law and establishes a license requirement for money transmitters, which so far was regulated under the Banking Act for relevant businesses. With regard to diligence and STR obligations, the new law refers to the Banking Act. The FATF's 2009 Mutual Evaluation Report, which includes FATF assessment of Austria's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) regime, acknowledges that Austria has established a comprehensive AML/CFT system, but raises questions about its effective implementation. In reaction, the Austrian government announced additional legal changes to bring its AML/CFT standards fully in compliance with the FATF's 40+9 recommendations. ¶9. A 2008 Vienna court ruling ordering the GOA to unfreeze about USD VIENNA 00001589 002.2 OF 003 8 million from a bank account belonging to the Abu Nidal terrorist group was still under review in 2009. The court had determined there was insufficient evidence that the money was connected to terrorism or would be used to support terrorism. Terrorist Groups -------------- ¶10. The BVT continues to monitor a handful of mosques in Vienna suspected of preaching radicalism. Likewise, it continued to follow the activities of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad movement, certain radicalized converts to Islam, and suspected Afghan and Chechen extremists entering Austria as asylum seekers. ¶11. Austria has about 23,000 Chechen refugees. According to counterterrorism experts, a small Vienna-based Chechen group serves as the European arm of the Chechen separatist movement headed by Dokku Umarov. The Vienna-based group is suspected of extorting money from the Chechen expat community in Austria. ¶12. According to the BVT, there are a few immigrant Muslims who sympathize with groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood (Al-Ikhwan al Muslimin),the Al-Gama'a al-islamiya, and the Global Revolution group (Hizb ut-tahrir al-islamiyya). Media sites monitored by the BVT include the Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF) and the as-Sahab Foundation for Islamic Media Publications. There are also some sympathizers of the Iranian People's Modjahedin (Modjahedin-e-Khalq). Among Palestinians in Austria, there are supporters of Hamas, as well as of the Salafiyya Jihadiyya. ¶13. On November 12, 2009, BVT agents, working in concert with law enforcement authorities from other countries, arrested two Algerian terrorism suspects in Vienna and Lower Austria. The two men are believed to be part of an international group included in the UN's list of terrorist organizations. ¶14. Austrian newspapers in spring 2009 reported about ongoing investigations by the Vienna public prosecutor aimed at the suspected head of a rumored Al-Qaida cell in Austria, Abdulrahman H., and 4 additional suspects. Reportedly, Abdulrahman H. and three other suspects had attended terrorism training camps in Pakistan in ¶2005. ¶15. In late 2008, domestic and international media reported a possible link between Austria and the terrorists responsible for the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai. As reported by the Indian newspaper "Indian Express" in 2008, one of the SIM cards used by one of the terrorists had been issued by a Vienna-based telecommunications company. An Austrian newspaper subsequently claimed the terrorists had communicated via a Voice-Over-Internet Server (VoIP) in Vienna. Foreign Government Cooperation -------------- ¶16. Austria traditionally maintains good bilateral relations with Syria and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited Vienna in April ¶2009. Chancellor Faymann visited Syria in December 2009 as part of his call on Austrian peacekeeping troops on the Golan Heights. ¶17. As a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, Austria in 2009 chaired the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee 1267. In this capacity, Austria sought "to place particular focus on observance of rule of law and human rights with terrorism suspects." (See briefing by Austrian committee chairman Thomas Mayr-Harting to UN Security Council November 13. (http://www.un.org/sc/committees/1267/latest. shtml). ¶18. The GOA in November 2009 submitted draft legislation to implement a 2007 EU directive obliging member states to store data from telephone conversations and internet communication. The EU sees such storage policies as a tool in the fight against terrorism. The EU in 2008 sued Austria over its failure to implement the directive, which remains highly controversial in Austria; polls show 76 percent of Austrians reject the idea that data collection and public surveillance technology help protect the public against terrorism. Under the draft, Austria would opt for the minimum allowed data storage period of 6 months. Austria in November 2009 abstained from a vote by EU Interior and Justice Ministers to approve a temporary agreement with the U.S. allowing sharing of banking data (collected by the Belgium-based SWIFT agency). Austria submitted an addendum to the agreement highlighting shortcomings and urging additional amendments. ¶19. Vienna is the seat of the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC),and of the related Terrorism Prevention Branch (TPB). Austria contributed 550,000 EUR (825,000 USD) to the UNODC in 2009. Together with a handful of other nations, Austria in October 2009 convoked a two-day counterterrorism networking workshop in Vienna gathering representatives from 100 nations and 40 international organizations and UN units. In Afghanistan, Austria supported VIENNA 00001589 003.2 OF 003 criminal law and criminal justice capacity building programs. Austria has been working with the UNODC and the EU to establish more effective border control checkpoints along the Afghan-Iranian border. Austria traditionally relies on the network of Austrian liaison personnel stationed in critical countries abroad. ¶20. Austria continued its participation in the Salzburg Forum, a regular meeting platform of interior ministers from Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Italy, Romania and Bulgaria designed to fight terrorism and organized crime in the region. Similarly, the GOA worked throughout 2009 to promote and expand the Pruem Treaty, under which the seven EU signatory states share information from their police databases. The Treaty, which involves the exchange of DNA, fingerprint, and vehicle data, is designed in part to identify terrorism suspects. ¶21. In 2009, Austria played an active among EU countries within the Central Asian Border Security Initiative (CABSI). Austria participated in the eighth meeting in Tashkent October 1-3, 2009, during which members discussed border security and cross-border cooperation in the region.