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Australia to Toughen Terror Laws Amid Overseas Involvement Reports

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Australia is planning to toughen its anti-terror laws to grapple with homegrown radicals once its battle-hardened and indoctrinated nationals return from fighting in Middle East hotspots, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Tuesdays.

MOSCOW, August 5 (RIA Novosti) – Australia is planning to toughen its anti-terror laws to grapple with homegrown radicals once its battle-hardened and indoctrinated nationals return from fighting in Middle East hotspots, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Tuesdays.

“What we are now acutely conscious of is the danger posed back here in Australia by people returning to this country who have been radicalized and militarized by the experience of working with terrorist organizations overseas,” Abbott told journalists Tuesday.

The Australian prime minister cited the recent court warrant for two of his compatriots from Sydney who are suspected of having brutalized Iraqi police and servicemen while fighting alongside Islamist radicals abroad.

The proposed legislation will help prevent militants from leaving Australia, as well as make it easier to find and prosecute them. It will also prohibit Australians from going to designated hotspots without a viable reason.

At home, the new law will seek to toughen controls on potential terrorist activities, which Tony Abbot said had not decreased since the 9/11 bombings.

On top of that, the draft law will amend the outdated telecom interception legislation which predates the Internet.

According to officials, there are some 150 Australians fighting alongside jihadists overseas, with CNN reports saying their number in Syria alone is twice as high.

Young Australians, as well as Britons and other Westerners, are being recruited by militant groups –including the Islamic State of Syria and Greater Syria (ISIS) – through recruitment videos posted online, while many militia groups have taken to social media, calling on young Muslims worldwide to seek martyrdom in the struggle against the Syrian and Iraqi governments.

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