Posted on 02/22/2009 2:38:43 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Vienna, one of the spy capitals of the world
by Philippe Schwab Fri Feb 20, 9:06 pm ET
VIENNA (AFP) Twenty years after the end of the Cold War, Vienna remains a spy haven, swarming with foreign agents who think nothing of killing in broad daylight, while the Austrian authorities turn a blind eye, experts say.
Vienna formed the backdrop to Orson Welles's legendary spy thriller "The Third Man" in 1949, but even today it remains a hive of secret service activity.
"Austria is still a favourite place for agents. They're frequently known to the authorities, but rarely hindered. Everything is handled courteously and diplomatically. There's a long tradition in that," said Siegfried Beer, director of the Austrian Centre for Intelligence, Propaganda and Security Studies (ACIPSS), at the University of Graz.
In the latest addition to a growing list of cases that look unlikely ever to be resolved, a Chechen dissident, Umar Israilov, was gunned down in broad daylight in the Austrian capital on January 13.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
The Vienna International Centre, with all those U.N. agencies and the IAEA HQ, probably helps continue the trend from the good ole days of the Iron Curtain.
Here’s a question: If you’re on the run why would you go to Vienna if there’s a probability you’ll get shot in the head?
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