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Australia, France agree to intelligence personnel exchange to boost counter-terrorism efforts

Xinhua, April 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

Australia and France will swap counter-terrorism officers in a new exchange program announced Tuesday by the two countries' leaders.

Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott and France's President Francois Hollande said in a joint statement released in Canberra the two countries have agreed to deepen security aspects of their bilateral relationship.

It comes in the wake of Islamic State-inspired attacks in the two countries, namely the Martin Place siege in Sydney and the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris.

The two countries will take new steps to build on their Strategic Partnership established in 2012.

They will include an exchange program for counter-terrorism and tactical response police and more exchanges on national security policy.

Responses to terrorism, countering violent extremism and online centralization will all be considered in the national security exchanges.

There will also be deeper co-operation between intelligence services and the two leaders have promised to increase talks in regards to the challenges posed by the phenomenon of foreign fighters.

"We recognize the challenges we both face on national security, as demonstrated by the terrorist attacks in Sydney in December 2014 and in Paris in January 2015," Abbott and Hollande said, acknowledging the Martin Place siege and Charlie Hebdo attacks.

"We acknowledge that ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) , or Daesh, poses a significant threat to global security and to both our countries."

"We reaffirm our commitment to working with our international coalition partners to disrupt, degrade and ultimately destroy it."

Abbott also updated Hollande on Australia's deployment of troops in Iraq that are involved in training programs with the local military.

A deployment of 300 Australian Defence Force personnel is at the Taji military complex north of Baghdad as the local troops attempt to relieve Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, from Islamic State's stranglehold. Endi