US embassy cable - 05VIENNA1064

UNCLAS VIENNA 001064 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR L/LEI (DENISE MANNING) AND NP/RA (EYTHAN SONTAG) 
DEPT PLEASE PASS USCG - LCDR BRAD KIESERMAN 
DOJ FOR WAYNE RAABE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KNNP, MNUC, PARM, PREL, KTIA, PHSA, EWWT, PGOV, AU 
SUBJECT: GAINING PSI PARTNERS' SUPPORT FOR EXISTING TEXT OF 
DRAFT SHIP BOARDING AMENDMENTMENTS TO THE SUA CONVENTION - 
AUSTRIAN RESPONSE 
 
REF: STATE 55182 
 
This message is sensitive but unclassified. 
 
1.  (SBU) EconPol Unit Chief conveyed reftel points to 
Ambassador Dorothea Auer (2005 Australia Group Chair and 
Austria's PSI representative) on March 29.  In a follow-up 
meeting on March 30, Auer agreed that her office would 
support the draft text that had emerged from the working 
group. 
 
2.  (SBU)  EconPol Off also conveyed reftel points to MFA 
Legal Affairs officer Thomas Loidl, who is coordinating the 
GOA's position, on April 1.  Loidl told us that it is in the 
best interests of the GOA to achieve a revised SUA, and that 
the MFA is in favor of the current draft without amendments. 
However, he added a caveat, saying that he would need to 
consult with the Ministry of Justice before adopting a final 
position. 
 
3.  (SBU) Loidl informed us that Professor Gunther Handl, a 
professor of public international law at Tulane University 
and specialist in the law of the sea, will represent Austria 
at the Legal Committee meeting later this month.  Handl, an 
Austrian, has served previously as a special advisor to the 
MFA's Legal Affairs Office. 
Brown