‘150 Australians in Syria’
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says that about 150 Australians are fighting in Syria:
In Syria, it seems that over a period of time they have moved from supporting more moderate opposition groups to the more extreme, and that includes this brutal extremist group ISIS
Radicalized fighters could pose a domestic threat:
We are concerned that Australians are working with them [ISIS], becoming radicalized, learning the terrorist trade, and if they come back to Australia, of course it poses a security threat. I’ve canceled a number of passports on the advice of intelligence agencies.
‘Not just suspicion’
Abbott says the participants in the alleged ISIS plot to kidnap and kill Australian members of the public showed clear intent to commit ‘demonstration’ beheadings in Sydney:
The exhortations, quite direct exhortations, were coming from an Australian who is apparently quite senior in ISIL to networks of support back in Australia to conduct demonstration killings here in this country. So this is not just suspicion, this is intent, and that’s why the police and security agencies decided to act in the way they have.
Refugee detention center to close
The Papua New Guinea government says Australia will close the Manus Island detention center. The announcement comes less than a day after more than a hundred former and current staff members at Australia’s offshore detention camps have called for all refugees to be moved immediately, saying children’s lives are being “destroyed.” Papua New Guinea Prime Minister O’Neill:
Papua New Guinea and Australia are in agreement that the center is to be closed.