CONFIDENTIAL
в
IRAR
RL RD OF CALL ON SECRETARY OF STATE BY DR NORBERT STEGER, VICE-CHANCELLOR OF AUSTRIA: 1545: 27 FEBRUARY 1986
Present
MKK 243/1
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
Malta 12/3
From Carter (154) Yes pr "(. to repor (G=efly)
Lelle s
13 MAR 1986
DESK OFFICER
INDEX
REGISTRY
PA
Action Taken
A
i2/3
Secretary of State
Dr Steger
Mr Appleyard
Mr Sullivan
Dr R Thomas Austrian Ambassador
Dr G Seyffertitz, DUS, Austrian Dept of
Trade
Mrs al-Jawad, Interpreter
Middle East/Terrorism
1.
Noting that Ministers had discussed the Middle East and terrorism at the Political Cooperation Meeting on 25 February, Dr Steger asked for the Secretary of State's views. The Secretary of State referred to King Hussein's speech on 19 February from which it was clear that the February 1985 Jordan/PLO agreement had been rejected. Community Ministers thought there was no advantage in attempting to take any initiative at this stage. There appeared to be little prospect of any early breakthrough though it was important to go on trying to reach an agreement. On terrorism, the Secretary of State said that the Community was attempting to intensify cooperation. But it was important not to cut across work done by other groups, for example Trevi. Trust and mutual cooperation between friendly nations was important in combatting the problem. Since the Libyan Embassy incident we had toughened many of our procedures and requirements. Much slow and painstaking work was
Had Austria learned any lessons from the Vienna airport necessary. incident in December? Dr Steger said that this had been a painful episode for Austria. Further precautionary steps had been taken. Investigations had revealed that the terrorist group involved had intended to hijack an aircraft before carrying out their attack. They had no getaway car. It had also been discovered that the group had not entered the airport through one of the main entrances where security precautions were tight. The incident highlighted the need to segregate Israeli check-in facilities though the Israelis resisted this. It was important to work for a political solution in
the Middle East which would remove the motive underlying such
CONFIDENTIAL