VIENNA , Austria (AP) - The Simon Wiesenthal Center wants Austria to find a way to strip a Nazi war crime fugitive of his academic title although there is no law covering such action, an official at the international Jewish human rights organization said Tuesday.

Aribert Heim, 91, has been at large since he was charged by German authorities in 1962 with killing hundreds of concentration camp inmates in Germany and Austria with lethal injections.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center wants him stripped of a doctor's title he received in 1940 from the University of Vienna , said Efraim Zuroff, director of the center's Israel branch. Heim has never been allowed to practice medicine in Austria because he did not finish his medical training here.

The university cannot revoke the title because there is no law that allows for such action, said Hans-Georg Eichler, the institute's vice-rector for research and international relations.

But Zuroff argued Austria ought to find a way to strip Heim of the title despite the legal situation, although he said in a telephone interview that Austrian authorities do too little to chase down Nazis.

After the war, Heim worked as a doctor in southern Germany until he was indicted. German authorities have offered a euro130,000 (US$159,000) reward for his arrest, and the Simon Wiesenthal Center euro10,000 (US$12,200).

Academic titles are considered important in Austria and are used frequently. The center was set up in 1977, based on the work of its founder, Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal.