澳总理称国家处于恐怖袭击威胁之中

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has warned that his country is now under a permanent and increased threat of militant¹ attack.

澳大利亚总理凯文·拉德向国民发出警告，澳大利亚正处于受到永久的、不断增强的激进式袭击威胁之中。

The latest case resulted from raids in Sydney in 2005 following tip-offs

He also announced plans to fingerprint² and face-scan visitors from 10 high-risk countries.

Mr Rudd said there was a growing threat from Islamist radicals³（激进分子） born or raised in Australia.

Last week, five Australians of foreign origin received heavy sentences for conspiring⁴ to launch a jihadist（圣战分子） attack.

Home grown

Mr Rudd said that many "home-grown terrorists" were inspired by what he called international jihadist narratives⁵（故事，叙述） , as he released a new report compiled by intelligence agencies.

"The threat of home-grown terrorism is now increasing," he said.

"This white paper is clear: some of the threat we now face comes from the Australian-born, Australian-educated and Australian residents."

Al-Qaida-linked groups in Yemen and Sudan are the new centre of threat internationally, the policy paper says, and the risks posed by Afghanistan and Pakistan remain high.

The paper says that, despite Indonesia's successes against terrorism, the Jakarta hotel attacks of last July point to an ongoing⁶ threat there.

No escape

"Terrorism continues to pose a serious threat and a serious challenge to Australia's security interests. That threat is not diminishing（衰减的，逐渐缩小的） ," Mr Rudd said.

"In fact, the government security intelligence agencies assess that terrorism has become a persistent⁷ and permanent feature of Australia's security environment. These agencies warn that an attack could occur at any time."

Australia will spend A$69m ($62m; £40m) on new biometric（生物计量的） facilities and will set up a national control centre to coordinate⁸ efforts to fight extremism.

The government also plans to work with communities to stamp out（扑灭，踩灭） radicalism⁹ by helping¹⁰ all ethnic¹¹ groups integrate better with mainstream¹² society.

Last week five Australian citizens of Lebanese, Libyan and Bangladeshi origin were jailed for up to 28 years for gathering¹³ weapons in preparation for an attack on an unknown target.

In August, five men with alleged¹⁴ links to Somalia's al-Shabaab militants¹⁵ were arrested and charged over an alleged plot（密谋，策划） to attack a Sydney military barracks.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said about 40 people have been arrested in Australia on terror charges since 2000.

"Whilst the numbers are small... it only takes one to get through," he said, adding that the techniques used by home-grown militants were evolving.

"We are now seeing emerging the potential so-called lone¹⁶ wolf（单独行动者） escapade where we don't have sophisticated planning but an individual is seduced¹⁷ by the international jihad and as a lone wolf does extreme things," he told ABC radio.

He said the 10 countries to face more stringent¹⁸（迫切的，严厉的） entry procedures would not be named yet. "There may be a diplomatic effort required in regards to some of those countries, as you would expect," he said.

Australia is a close ally of the United States. It was among the first to commit troops to US-led campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.

It has not suffered a major peacetime attack on home soil, but 95 Australians have been killed in militant bombings in neighbouring Indonesia since 2001.