Empty suitcases outside minister's home spark terror alarm
Bomb disposal experts were called to the Vienna residence of Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz on Monday morning, after a man was seen leaving two suitcases on the street outside his home.
Police spokesman Christoph Pölzl confirmed that counter terrorism officers and explosives experts were called to examine the cases but found that they were empty, and said that Kurz’s home did not have to be evacuated.
A local who saw the man leaving the two suitcases on the street in the Meidling district at around 8am immediately called the police. The 29-year-old foreign minister was reportedly at home at the time.
Kurz, from the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP), recently commissioned a controversial study into Muslim schools in Vienna, and last year supported the new Law on Islam which has meant many foreign-funded Imams have had to leave Austria. He was also a key driver behind the closure of the Balkan migrant route earlier this year.
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Police spokesman Christoph Pölzl confirmed that counter terrorism officers and explosives experts were called to examine the cases but found that they were empty, and said that Kurz’s home did not have to be evacuated.
A local who saw the man leaving the two suitcases on the street in the Meidling district at around 8am immediately called the police. The 29-year-old foreign minister was reportedly at home at the time.
Kurz, from the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP), recently commissioned a controversial study into Muslim schools in Vienna, and last year supported the new Law on Islam which has meant many foreign-funded Imams have had to leave Austria. He was also a key driver behind the closure of the Balkan migrant route earlier this year.
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