Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
10VIENNA55
2010-01-14 07:43:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Vienna
Cable title:
AUSTRIA: ADDENDUM TO 2009 TERRORISM REPORT
how-toVZCZCXYZ0018 RR RUEHWEB DE RUEHVI #0055 0140743 ZNR UUUUU ZZH (CCY AD0D5918 MSI2781-695) R 140743Z JAN 10 FM AMEMBASSY VIENNA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4013 INFO RUEILB/NCTC WASHINGTON DC RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS VIENNA 000055
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
C O R R E C T E D COPY CAPTION
DEPARTMENT FOR S/CT (SHORE) AND NCTC
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER ASEC EFIN KCRM KHLS PINS PREL AEMR AU
SUBJECT: AUSTRIA: ADDENDUM TO 2009 TERRORISM REPORT
REF: A)09 STATE 109980
B)09 VIENNA 1589
UNCLAS VIENNA 000055
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
C O R R E C T E D COPY CAPTION
DEPARTMENT FOR S/CT (SHORE) AND NCTC
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER ASEC EFIN KCRM KHLS PINS PREL AEMR AU
SUBJECT: AUSTRIA: ADDENDUM TO 2009 TERRORISM REPORT
REF: A)09 STATE 109980
B)09 VIENNA 1589
1. Per reftel A, Post is submitting an addendum to the 2009 Country
Report on Terrorism for Austria (reftel B).
Addendum
--------------
2. (SBU) Austrian authorities on December 28 arrested Peter
Walaschek, a German citizen who pled guilty in a U.S. court in 1988
to shipping 115 tons of thiodiglycol, a chemical used to make
mustard gas, to Iran. Walaschek later fled the U.S. and had been on
the FBI's wanted list for the past 21 years. Relying on cooperation
with the FBI, Tyrolean police nabbed the German citizen during a ski
vacation in Austria with his family. While Austrian prosecutors
demanded that Walaschek be held in custody until his extradition to
the U.S., a judge at the regional court in Innsbruck decided that
there was "no legal basis" for such action and ordered Walaschek's
release. The court argued that an Austrian law banning trade in
weapons of mass destruction did not go into effect until 1997, 10
years after the offense was committed.
3. (SBU) In late December 2009, a banned radical Islamic
organization sent a threatening letter to GOA Women's Minister
Gabriele Heinisch-Hosek after she said publicly that the burqa
"hinders women from finding jobs" and expressed support for the idea
of a ban against burqas in public buildings. In a letter to the
Minister, the Lebanon-based organization Hizb ut-Tahrir condemned
Heinisch-Hosek's remarks and threatened her using what it said was a
quote from the Koran: "And know that Allah is strong in punishment."
Hizb ut-Tahrir was banned in 2003 in Germany for its support of
violence. Austrian authorities say they have been observing the
organization's activities for some time.
EACHO
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
C O R R E C T E D COPY CAPTION
DEPARTMENT FOR S/CT (SHORE) AND NCTC
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER ASEC EFIN KCRM KHLS PINS PREL AEMR AU
SUBJECT: AUSTRIA: ADDENDUM TO 2009 TERRORISM REPORT
REF: A)09 STATE 109980
B)09 VIENNA 1589
1. Per reftel A, Post is submitting an addendum to the 2009 Country
Report on Terrorism for Austria (reftel B).
Addendum
--------------
2. (SBU) Austrian authorities on December 28 arrested Peter
Walaschek, a German citizen who pled guilty in a U.S. court in 1988
to shipping 115 tons of thiodiglycol, a chemical used to make
mustard gas, to Iran. Walaschek later fled the U.S. and had been on
the FBI's wanted list for the past 21 years. Relying on cooperation
with the FBI, Tyrolean police nabbed the German citizen during a ski
vacation in Austria with his family. While Austrian prosecutors
demanded that Walaschek be held in custody until his extradition to
the U.S., a judge at the regional court in Innsbruck decided that
there was "no legal basis" for such action and ordered Walaschek's
release. The court argued that an Austrian law banning trade in
weapons of mass destruction did not go into effect until 1997, 10
years after the offense was committed.
3. (SBU) In late December 2009, a banned radical Islamic
organization sent a threatening letter to GOA Women's Minister
Gabriele Heinisch-Hosek after she said publicly that the burqa
"hinders women from finding jobs" and expressed support for the idea
of a ban against burqas in public buildings. In a letter to the
Minister, the Lebanon-based organization Hizb ut-Tahrir condemned
Heinisch-Hosek's remarks and threatened her using what it said was a
quote from the Koran: "And know that Allah is strong in punishment."
Hizb ut-Tahrir was banned in 2003 in Germany for its support of
violence. Austrian authorities say they have been observing the
organization's activities for some time.
EACHO