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Wednesday 23 Dec 2015 - 12:14 Makkah mean time-12-3-1437
Attorney-General George Brandis (Pic: The Sydney Morning Herald)
Sydney (IINA) – Australia on Tuesday warned that the so-called Islamic State (IS) group is working to boost its presence in Indonesia with dreams of creating a "distant caliphate" in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, ANTARA News reported.
Australian Attorney-General George Brandis, who spent Monday in meetings between Indonesian and Australian ministers, police chiefs and security officials, said IS group constitutes a threat to Australian and Western interests.
"ISIS has ambitions to elevate its presence and level of activity in Indonesia, either directly or through surrogates," Brandis said.
"You've heard the expression the distant caliphate? "ISIS has a declared intention to establish caliphates beyond the Middle East, provincial caliphates in effect. It has identified Indonesia as a location of its ambitions," he added.
Brandis' comments follow Indonesian police foiling plans for a suicide attack in Jakarta and arresting radicals linked to Islamic State.
Three-day raids across Java ending Sunday saw the confiscation of explosive materials and an ISIS-inspired flag as well as nine arrests.
The extremists were targeting shopping malls, police stations and minority groups across the country, Indonesia's national police chief said.
Security has been beefed up across the country, with senior ministers from Australia and Indonesia agreeing on Monday to boost intelligence sharing, including on terrorism financing, following bilateral talks in both Sydney and Jakarta.
On his part, Australia's Justice Minister Michael Keenan said the rise of extremist groups had destabilized the security of both countries.
"The rise of ISIS in the Middle East is something that has destabilized the security of Australia, it's destabilized the security of Indonesia and it's destabilizing the security of our friends and partners, particularly here in the region," he said.
AB/IINA
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