Austria FM says US air offensive on ISIL "important"

VIENNA, Sept 16 (KUNA) -- The US air strikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) extremists in north Iraq and Syria, announced by US President Barack Obama on the weekend, was "important, Austria's Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said.
In a radio interview, Kurz said: "The air strikes and the weapons deliveries are important in order to push back the terrorists." Austria was a neutral country, and thus also "peace loving", said Kurz, but it was not naive, he added.
He pointed out that minorities in the regions, such as Yazidis and Christians, were in grave danger, and being "persecuted and murdered".
This was why preparedness for action was needed.
On the subject of the "radicalisation" of young people in Austria and Germany, Kurz called for more education, including via social networks, which would teach them that "jihadism and Islamic religion have nothing to do with each other." (end) amq.hm