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Aust, Indonesia unite over terror threat

Australia and Indonesia have agreed to work closely to counteract the appeal of ISIS to vulnerable and young Australians.

Justice Minister Michael Keenan is greeted at the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation at Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014. (File: AAP Image/Gabrielle Dunlevy)
(File: AAP) Source: (File: AAP)

Australia will get help from government and community leaders in Indonesia and the region to counteract Islamic State's efforts to groom and recruit vulnerable and young people online.

Federal Justice Minister Michael Keenan had roundtable talks with experts in Jakarta on Thursday, as it was revealed another seven young Australians were stopped at airports on their way to join ISIS ranks in the Middle East.

Mr Keenan says it's important to find "credible and respected" voices to speak out against the warped ISIS messaging.

He was pleased to draw on the experience of Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim population, and "a global leader" in countering extremism.

Indonesia will help Australia craft messages to counter online propaganda, and it was also agreed to form a region-wide network of civil society groups, community leaders and people of influence who would resonate with Australians prone to radicalisation, particularly young people.

The Australian Federal Police meanwhile hailed a "new era" with Indonesia's National Police, agreeing to a new framework for co-operation on transnational crimes, and to establish seven cyber crime centres in Indonesia.

Indonesian investigators will track business and social media data to organised crime and terror networks.

Mr Keenan is the first minister to visit Jakarta after the executions of Australian Bali Nine pair Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

He says he found the relationship in good shape, and he believes the challenge of terrorism will see Australia work closer with its neighbour in future.

"I think there's good open lines of communication, and we shouldn't get too focused on speed bumps in the relationship," he told AAP.

"We want to find ways we can continue to work with the Indonesian government, and I think there's a lot of goodwill up here to do the same."

In Jakarta, the minister met Indonesia's spy agency BIN, and Vice-President Jusuf Kalla, who believes relations are "getting normal" again.

"The relationship between Indonesia and Australia now I think is OK, it is much better compared with a few months ago," he told reporters.

Australia and Indonesia have also agreed to hold a counter-terror financing summit in Sydney.

Indonesia's PPTAK, the Financial Transactions Reports and Analysis Centre, and its Australian counterpart AUSTRAC have already detected money flowing from Australia to Indonesian groups supporting Islamic State, according to media reports from March.


3 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


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