Australia's spies closely monitoring extremists: Keating

Australia's spies closely monitoring extremists: Keating

CANBERRA (Reuter): Australia's intelligence agencies are
closely monitoring the growing threat of violent anti-Asian,
right-wing and religious extremist groups, Prime Minister Paul
Keating said yesterday.

His comments followed a report by the Australian Security
Intelligence Organization (ASIO) warning of a series of threats
facing Australia.

Volatile anti-Indonesian protests also raised fears for the
safety of visiting Indonesian leaders, ASIO said in its annual
report, handed to parliament on Tuesday.

And ASIO said Canberra's push for more involvement in Asia
could spark a violent backlash by anti-Asian groups, warning of
threats from the rise of violent religious extremist groups,
right-wing militias and the emergence of doomsday groups similar
to Japan's Aum Shinri Kyo sect.

"Some domestic groups are becoming increasingly active in
making violent public statements against Australia's engagement
with east and south-east Asia," ASIO said.

Keating said security agencies would monitor potential threats
and report to the government.

"And they'll do a professional task in keeping surveillance on
these type of groups," he told reporters.

ASIO said some domestic groups were becoming increasingly
violent in pushing their causes.

"Volatile anti-Indonesian protest activity continued in 1994-
95, raising concerns for the security of Indonesian visitors such
as vice president (Try) Sutrisno and Dr (B.J.) Habibie, the
Minister for Research and Technology," ASIO said.

Australian authorities kept details of the schedules of
Habibie and Sutrisno secret during their visits here.

ASIO also warned of the rise of right-wing extremists similar
to those blamed for April's Oklahoma City bombing in the United
States.

Earlier this year, ASIO uncovered a clandestine Christian
extremist paramilitary group with members in the defense
department.

"This group had ready access to weapons and talked about using
violence in support of its anti-government, anti-Asian political
agenda," ASIO said.

The June firebombing of the honorary French consulate in the
western city of Perth, in a protest at Paris' resumption of
nuclear testing, "showed the willingness of some individuals to
take criminal action", ASIO said.

In the lead up to hosting the Olympic Games in the year 2000,
ASIO said Australia must be careful of the possible emergence of
doomsday groups.

"A more immediate parallel can be drawn between the extremist
right-wing militia groups now flourishing in the United States
and the emergence in Australia of groups with similar
ideologies," ASIO said.

ASIO's report to parliament was a censored version of a
classified report on its activities.