AUSTRALIA: 2009 COUNTRY REPORT ON TERRORISM

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CANBERRA 001124

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FOR S/CT RHONDA SHORE

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TAGS: PTER ASEC EFIN KCRM KHLS PINS PREL AEMR AS
SUBJECT: AUSTRALIA: 2009 COUNTRY REPORT ON TERRORISM

REF: A. STATE 109980

B. STATE 122733


1. (U) The text of the report follows. The stakeholders at
post, RSO, Legatt, and DEA have cleared the text. The
embassy point of contact is Virgil Strohmeyer,
strohmeyervb@state.gov.

Australia

Australia continued to play a leadership role in the fight
against terrorism through multilateral and bilateral fora,
including through the annual Trilateral Security Dialogue
with Japan and the United States, and the Lombok Treaty with
Indonesia. Late in December 2009, the government is expected
to release its Counter Terrorism Defense White Paper
outlining Australia's priorities in combating terrorism.

The Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO)
assessed that terrorism remains a serious and immediate
threat to Australia; that the Middle East, South Asia and now
East Africa are the primary sources of motivation and
capability for extremists in Australia; and that the number
of Islamic extremists was very small and did not change
substantially. There were no terrorist attacks in Australia
in 2009; there has not been one since 1986. The most serious
terrorism case was the arrest of five men for allegedly
planning a suicide attack on an Australian military base.
The Australian National Counter-Terrorism Committee (NCTC)
alert level remained at medium.

On August 12, the government announced proposed reforms to
counterterrorism legislation including expanding the
definition of a "terrorist act" in the Criminal Code to
include psychological, as well as physical harm; extending
the expiration period of regulations proscribing a terrorist
organization from two to three years; extending parliamentary
oversight of the Australian Federal Police (AFP); and
providing further limits on the period a suspect can be held
without charge.

The government directed intelligence agencies - including the
Australian Transaction and Reports Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC)
which monitors financial transactions - to increase
monitoring of small transactions sent abroad. "The Hawala
network, that is, the Islamic financial network, is a very,
very difficult thing to police, but there are intelligence
capabilities to look at how these things operate," the
Attorney-General said.

18 groups were included on the Listing of Terrorist
Organizations. In 2009, 10 groups were re-listed, including
the Kurdistan Workers Party, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Palestinian
Islamic Jihad, Ansar al-Islam and Asbat al-Ansar and Islamic
Movement of Uzbekistan.

--In February, seven men from Melbourne were sentenced to
jail terms, ranging from four and a half to 15 years, for
their involvement in planning terrorist activities. They
were arrested in November 2005, during concerted actions on
suspected Muslim terrorist groups in Melbourne and Sydney.
An eighth, who trained in Afghanistan, was sentenced to five
years jail in September (another, who pled guilty, was jailed
in August 2007).
--In October, five Sydney men (arrested as part of a series
of raids in 2005) were found guilty of plotting terrorist
attacks. Sentencing hearings will begin on December 14,

2009. Soon after, it was revealed four other men involved in
the plot had pled guilty and had been sentenced to jail terms
- two of them are now free.
--In August, five Melbourne men, some with alleged links to
Somali militant group al-Shabab, were charged with plotting
an attack on a Sydney army barracks. On August 21, al-Shabab
was listed as a terrorist organization.
Qwas listed as a terrorist organization.
--In September, a Lebanese-born Sydney man, Bilal Khazal, was
sentenced to 12 years jail for posting a terrorism handbook
titled "Provisions on the Rules of Jihad" on the internet.
In December 2003, he and his brother were sentenced in
absentia by a Lebanese military tribunal for financing an
Islamic extremist group, which bombed U.S. businesses.

The National Security Adviser (NSA),a position created
December 2008, help the Prime Minister on all policy matters
relating to the security of the nation, including countering
terrorism, and overseeing the implementation of all national
security policy arrangements. A National Intelligence
Coordination Committee (NICC) chaired by the NSA ensured that
national intelligence efforts were integrated across
governmental agencies. The National Security Committee of

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Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, was the focal point
of national security decision making.

The Lombok Treaty between Australia and Indonesia provided
the model for further international bilateral CT cooperation.
Law enforcement cooperation included police-to-police
coordination, particularly in trafficking in persons, trade
in illicit drugs, border control, defense, and terrorism.
Australia assisted Indonesia in the investigation of the July
hotel bombings in Jakarta.

Australian multilateral engagement continued in forums such
as the United Nations, Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN),ASEAN Regional Forum, Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation, Pacific Island Forum, and G8 Counterterrorism
Action Group, as well as in the Global Initiative to Combat
Nuclear Terrorism. Australia has counterterrorism memoranda
of understanding with Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia,
Cambodia, Thailand, Brunei, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, East
Timor, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey and Bangladesh.
The AFP, ASIO and other intelligence bodies liaise with their
overseas counterparts.

Australia continued to provide legal drafting assistance to
regional states seeking to adopt international conventions
and protocols against terrorism, and to bring their law codes
into conformity with these conventions. ASIO reported the
number of Islamic extremists willing to use violence was very
small and did not change substantially between July 2008 and
June 2009. It found further evidence of hostile intelligence
services using the internet in attempts to steal confidential
government and business information, and discovered
continuing state-sponsored efforts to procure materiel and
knowledge for weapons programs - including weapons of mass
destruction. The public was encouraged to report suspicious
activity to the National Security Hotline.

In October Australia participated in the Fifth Regional
Interfaith Dialogue in Perth, which was sponsored by
Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand and the Philippines. It
aimed to promote peace and understanding through interfaith
links. Within Australia, the government funded projects
encouraging tolerance of religious diversity, particularly
focusing on strengthening goodwill between Muslims and
non-Muslims.

Australia and the United States exchanged information on
known and suspected terrorists using the Terrorist Screening
Center and APEC's Regional Movement Alert System (RMAS).
Australia participated in the Visa Waiver Program; it
complied with requirements related to information sharing
relating to counterterrorism cooperation. The Australian
Defence Force (ADF) boosted its contribution in Afghanistan
to approximately 1550. Around 800 additional personnel were
deployed elsewhere in the Middle East.

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