Officials: Austrian ruling may fund terror

VIENNA, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- A Vienna court ruling that unfroze the bank account of a suspected terrorist could potentially lead to funding of terror activities, Austrian officials say.

Austrian prosecutors and intelligence officers say that by unfreezing Iraqi citizen Halima al-Mughrabi's bank account at the Austria Bank, those funds could be used to fund the Abu Nidal Organization, Haaretz reported Friday.

While prosecutors alleged the bank funds essentially belonged to the group, which is on the U.S. State Department's list of terror organizations, the Vienna court found that the organization was not a threat since it no longer existed.

A 2006 State Department Country Reports on Terrorism said the terror group, which was accused of scores of terror attacks in Austria during the 1980s, had become inactive.

Austrian intelligence officials had ordered the bank funds belonging to Mughrabi to be frozen during the late 1990s and she has since been mired in a legal battle for those funds.

Haaretz said while the Vienna court ruling moves the Iraqi national closer to her goal, prosecutors have appealed the ruling to the Austrian Supreme Court and that case is pending.