Australia, the Next Target for Terrorists?

"Australia has received specific information about a possible 'terrorist threat' to the country", Australia's Prime-minister John Howard said today. "I don't want to over-alarm people. I have said for a long time the possibility of an attack is there," he said.

According to Reuters, the PM refused to give any additional data regarding the nature or the location of the threat, but he did say that the government will make some changes to the anti-terror laws in order to allow the state to respond to the threats.

Despite these threats, Australia's security alert remained unchanged, which might cause Australians "to be very cynical", security analyst Aldo Borgu told the British press agency.

The Prime-Minister's warning came after the announcement made by ASIO (Australia Security Intelligence Organization), in which it was admitted for the first time that Australia had home-grown extremists, some of whom had received terror training overseas.
The new laws would allow the police to detain suspects for seven days without charge, and use electronic tracking devices to keep tabs on suspects. In addition, the persons supporting insurgents in countries like Iraq would be eligible for a seven year jail sentence.