Vienna - Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Saturday called on Middle Eastern nations to take steps towards establishing a region free of nuclear weapons.

Delegates at the nuclear watchdog's annual general conference in Vienna adopted a resolution calling on all states in the region to accept IAEA inspections, and to accede and adhere to the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which bans the development of nuclear arms.

Vienna  - A 48-year-old Austrian man allegedly has murdered his wife's parents with a home-made flame-thrower, Austrian news agency APA reported Saturday.

The attack occurred Friday evening.

The suspect's 84-year-old mother-in-law burned to death in her bed after she was torched with a modified propane-gas bottle. As she had lost both legs due to diabetes, she had no way of escaping.

Her 84-year-old husband was found dead outside the house the elderly couple shared with their daughter and son-in-law in Lemberg in Styria province.

Police said an antagonistic relationship between the two couples living under one roof could have led to the murder.

Vienna - Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issued a resolution Saturday stressing that the nuclear organization should play a key role in North Korea.

The resolution adopted at the IAEA general conference in Vienna said the agency should have an "essential verification role" in North Korea, a notion opposed by Pyongyang, according to Western diplomats.

Vienna - Austria's first Islamic cemetery opened Friday in Vienna, ending years of delay due partly to financing gaps and an arson attack while the complex was under construction.

Funding by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was crucial to completing the site, which has space for 4,000 graves and was originally slated to open in 2003, Austrian media reported.

Vienna - Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska has given up his shares in the Canadian car assembly firm Magna International Inc. after a creditor took over his 18-per-cent stake, the company announced Friday.

In September 2007, Deripaska's firm OJSC Russian Machines acquired 20 million shares for 1.54 million dollars (1.11 million euros) from Magna, which has its European headquarters near Vienna.