Austrian President Kurt Waldheim received an official welcome Sunday to the United Arab Emirates, where he is on a four-day state visit.
It is the eighth official visit for Waldheim, who has been ostracized by Western nations because of his wartime service as a Nazi intelligence officer. The invitations have come largely from the Arab world.
According to Austrian newspapers, Waldheim was received by the UAE’s head of state and emir of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan.
Waldheim is being accompanied on his visit by Rudolf Streicher, minister for state industries, by a Foreign Office minister and by some 20 top managers of state and promote firms who see economic prospects in the area, in the aftermath of the war between Iran and Iraq.
On his return to Austria, Waldheim is to stop in Cyprus, where Austrian soldiers serve in United Nations forces that form a buffer between Greek and Turkish lines.
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