Australia to Strengthen Anti-Terrorism Laws

The Australian government is seeking to strengthen its anti terror laws to deal with the growing threat from militant Islamists.  A new legislation called Foreign Fighters Bill will be tabled in parliament later this week for this purpose.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that under the new legislation, it would be an offense if an Australian citizen travelled to a country declared as a no go zone by the Australian government.

The new law would also allow police and secret services to detain terrorist suspects and search their homes.

"My unambiguous message to all Australians who fight with terrorist groups is that you will be arrested, prosecuted and jailed for a very long time, and that our laws are being changed to make it easier to keep potential terrorists off our streets," Abbott told parliament.

"The only safe place for those who have been brutalized and militarized by fighting with terrorists is inside a maximum security prison," reports Reuters.

Abbot gave the example of Raqqa city in northern Syria as a designated area.  A photograph of a young boy in Raqqa holding the severed head of a dead Syrian soldier had emerged last month. The boy was believed to be the son of an Australian terror convict.

Abbott said that around 60 Australians were known to have fought alongside Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Among those, 20 have returned to Australia and around 100 were supporting the terrorists locally, he said, reports The Wall Street Journal.

However, the bill would exempt some Australian citizens if they can prove that they have a legitimate reason for being in the area, Attorney General George Brandis said.

Brandis also said that he was confident of getting the support of the labor party when he introduces the bill in the parliament later this week, reports The Australian.

Australia had arrested 15 people last week in a major counter- terrorism operation triggered by an intelligence report that Islamic State militants were planning to conduct a demonstration killing in Australia. It also had raised its terror threat level from medium to high some days back.