Indonesia and Australia have committed to enhancing cooperation and agreed on specific measures to counter terrorism.

'€œThe matters that were discussed related to cyber crime, intelligence sharing, technical cooperation, including combating terrorism financing, as well as enhanced cooperation in certain operational matters at an agency level,'€ Australian Attorney-General Senator George Brandis said in Jakarta on Monday.

The senator was in Jakarta along with Australian Justice Minister Michael Keenan for the inaugural Indonesia'€“Australia Ministerial Council on Law and Security meeting that involved senior officials at the ministerial level. Indonesia'€™s Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan and National Police chief General Badrodin Haiti also took part in the event.

The council addressed domestic matters of common concern between the two countries, said Brandis, adding that the discussions on Monday morning focused particularly on terrorism inspired by the Islamic State (IS) group.

Both Australia and Indonesia were vulnerable to such attacks, he added, and therefore would aim to strengthen cooperation and share what each country had to learn from one another in order to confront a common threat, said Brandis.

The Senator emphasized that the meeting with Indonesia discussed practical and specific measures against terrorism; however, he was unwilling to disclose details, pointing to the sensitive nature of intelligence matters concerning the two countries.

Keenan said the council also discussed measures to counter IS messages that encourage violence in the Middle East, particularly via social media.

A joint working group would be established to implement the agreed measures, said Brandis, adding that the council had agreed to annual meetings, with the next one to be held in Sydney in 2016.

The meeting in Jakarta followed the arrest of nine people in recent antiterrorism raids in Indonesia, which authorities said was based on intelligence from Australia, the US and Singapore. The suspects allegedly plotted a terrorist attack on Christmas or New Year'€™s Eve celebrations.

Badrodin said that the suspects were still under interrogation.

Luhut said that the government would heighten security measures during the upcoming holiday season and deploy 150,000 security personnel to safeguard high-risk public locations.

The government was already privy to detailed intelligence on the possibilities of any kind of attack at present or in the near future, he added.

'€œNo country is immune from terrorist attacks, but I can assure you that we are working very hard to tackle this issue and so far have been successful in monitoring all potential terrorist activities,'€ said Luhut. (dan)(+)

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