Abbas to meet Austria premier in Vienna

President Mahmoud Abbas will visit Austria on Sunday where he will meet with the government head Chancellor Werner Faymann, official media announced Saturday. Presidential adviser Nimir Hammad told the Voice of Palestine radio that Abbas would update Chancellor of Austria and other officials in Vienna on the efforts made to reactivate the peace process, as well as the Palestinian bid for membership of the UN. The EU member state voted for Palestine's admission the UN cultural agency on Oct. 31, and had tried to craft a common European position on the Palestinian September bid for full membership of the UN. A Security Council admissions committee -- including four EU members but not Austria -- said on Nov. it could not reach a common position on Palestinian admission, casting uncertainty on the bid's future.