SUNDAYWORLD.COM 15 SEPT - AUSTRIA TO BAN ISIS SYMBOLS AND TAKE CITIZENSHIP FROM ANYONE JOINING

Austria plans to introduce a law banning symbols of the Islamic State group and 18 other extremist groups. The justice and interior ministries announced the initiative earlier today. Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner also says that dual nationals will lose their Austrian citizenship upon joining any foreign paramilitary organization. While international law prohibits taking away passports from people who have a single citizenship, she says Austria will lobby to change that status in such cases. The proposals still have to be approved by parliament, but that is likely to happen. The Interior Ministry says that more than 140 people have left Austria to fight for radical Islamic groups in the Middle East. Meanwhile, a 20-year-old German man has gone on trial in Frankfurt on charges he was a member of the extremist Islamic State group, in the first such case to come to court in Germany. Prosecutors allege that Kreshnik Berisha, who once played for a Jewish football club, travelled to Syria last year and fought with the group before returning to Germany five months later. Berisha, who could face up to 10 years in prison for membership of a foreign terrorist organisation, was arrested at Frankfurt airport in December and has been detained ever since. Heightened security measures are in place for the trial, which is expected to last until at least November. It opens just days after Germany also formally banned Islamic State symbols and any propaganda activity for the group. LINK: http://www.sundayworld.com/top-stories/news/austria-to-ban-isis-symbols-and-take-citizenship-from-anyone-joining