Arab terrorists threatened to blow up oil refineries, oil tanks and gas stations in Austria, police sources said today. “We were informed by international oil firms,” a police spokesman said. “They passed on their information to the Ministry of Interior.” Remembering the recent experience of the Vienna Airport hostage terror, police headquarters in all provincial capitals were alerted by the ministry and security measures were increased.
Asked by JTA whether the threat is serious, the spokesman said: “You can never be sure with these things. Yet this time we do not want to take any risks.” It was not disclosed whether the terrorists’ threat could be connected with the government’s policy on Soviet Jewish emigrants to Israel. Only last week Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky announced that the special transit camp for Soviet Jews at Schoenau Castle will be closed down but an aid station will be set up at Woellersdorf in lower Austria, 40 kilometers south of Vienna.
By closing down Schoenau, Kreisky fulfilled his promise to two Arab terrorists who in exchange freed four hostages, including three Soviet Jews, seized Sept. 28 by the two Arabs. Police sources did not rule out the possibility that an Arab terrorist organization will call for the complete suspension of Soviet Jewish transit through Austria.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
