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Viewing cable 06VIENNA506, AUSTRIAN, DANISH FMS MEET WITH MUSLIM

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06VIENNA506 2006-02-17 16:01 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Vienna
VZCZCXRO1344
PP RUEHAG RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ
RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHVI #0506 0481601
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 171601Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY VIENNA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2432
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1046
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS 0177
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