Hundreds of prisoners convicted of terrorism-related crimes are due to be released from Indonesian jails over the next couple of years, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says. Asked whether Australia could do more, she said: “That is an exceedingly generous offer because it’s permanently settled”.
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On the eve of his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Monday in New York, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has told 60 Minutes that the only legitimate military force in Syria is Assad’s.
“And of course, if they’ve not been rehabilitated, then they pose a serious risk not only to Indonesia but to our region”.
“It is also a concern that we have that this kind of perverted ideology could be spread within the prison system as it has been in other countries”, Bishop said.
She and her Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi have been discussing ways to rehabilitate and reintegrate radicalised inmates and the pair will jointly host a conference on the issue next month.
Bishop’s comments come just days after Tina S. Kaidanow, the U.S. State Department’s top counterterrorism official, said that the “trend was still upward” insofar as foreign nationals traveling to fight in Iraq and Syria are concerned.
“We have to a number of results in intruding move odd extremist protectors, nevertheless i wouldn’t say you’ll find that we have but still twisted the tide”, Bishop supposedly said.
Speaking after the meeting Ms Bishop said the number of Australians thought to be engaged with terrorist organisations in Iraq in Syria had doubled to 120 over the past 12 months. Terrorist groups represented a “grave threat” to the world and Iran was committed to work with other countries to end the threat and bring about democracy in Syria and Yemen, he said.
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Reports in the United States suggest there are now up to 30,000 foreign fighters in the region.
