The Australian attorney-general has no doubt at all that Islamic State is

seeking to establish a distant caliphate in Indonesia, either directly or

through surrogates.
In comments made to the Australian newspaper during high-level security
meetings in Jakarta between Australian and Indonesian ministers and
security officials, George Brandis said Isis has identified Indonesia as a
location of its ambitions.
Isis has ambitions to elevate its presence and level of activity in Indonesia,
either directly or through surrogates, he said.
Youve heard the expression the distant caliphate? Isis has a declared
intention to establish caliphates beyond the Middle East, provincial
caliphates in effect. It has identified Indonesia as a location of its
ambitions.
In further remarks he warned Australia and Indonesia were very
vulnerable to terrorism, particularly Isis-inspired terrorism.

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But Greg Fealey, an expert in Islamism and Indonesian politics from the
Australian National University, said Isis was not the major Islamist risk in
Indonesia, despite comprising the larger part of the approximately 300
foreign fighters who have left the country for the middle east.
Im a bit skeptical, Fealey told Guardian Australia. Most scholars looking
at Isis in south-east Asia and particularly in Indonesia are not convinced
that Isis has big plans for Indonesia.
Weve not seen Isis sending fighters back to Indonesia or Malaysia to
undertake terrorist operations ... Nor has there been a statement from IS
[Isis] centrally, indicating they would seek to establish a caliphate in southeast Asia or Indonesia.
He said the small number of foreign fighters who returned to Indonesia had
fought with al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra.
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They do come back, within a year, and they are not interested in terrorism
but are interested in using those skills to build an Islamic state.
A separate meeting between the defence and foreign ministers of the two
countries was held in Sydney and resulted in the signing of a memorandum
of understanding on terrorism, among other agreements.
Australian justice minister, Michael Keenan, said sharing intelligence and
policing resources were how the two countries could work together to
counter the virulent and violent message that is put out by Isis in the
Middle East, particularly over social media.
Aside from foreign fighters, the two governments identified cyber-security
as a future area of co-operation.

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An October report on social media use among Indonesian Isis supporters,

from the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (Ipac), said
the internet is not necessarily changing patterns of recruitment but it is
ensuring that Isis propaganda is reaching new audiences.
Face-to-face recruitment was still the main factor in prompting the decision
to leave Indonesia for distant warzones.
The report recommended monitoring Indonesians internet use for
extremist material, excluding convicted terrorists and prisoners from
internet and mobile phone usage, and the training of intelligence and police
officers in cyber-security techniques.
Also useful, the report noted, were disillusioned returnees who have come
back from Syria with stories of corruption, false promises and
discrimination by Arabs who treat southeast Asians as second-class
citizens.
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Fealey noted that while the Indonesian police are capable of monitoring
internet and phone usage, Australia may be able to assist with more

sophisticated online operations, like tracking the transfers of overseas

funds.
Even so, according to Fealey co-operation between the two countries is so
close that any further progress from agreements to fight terrorism is likely
to be diplomatic rather than technical.
Now that relations have gotten better theres an element of wanting to ink
deals like this, to drive home the point that we have a functional and
mutually beneficial relationship, Fealey said.
He added that Malcolm Turnbulls prime ministership has brought
warmth to the relationship thats never been there under Abbott, and that
the government could capitalise on this.
Australias ministers were indeed positive during the meetings about
Indonesia, which Keenan described as the worlds largest Muslim majority
country, but still pluralist, still a vibrant democracy, and a very successful
model that needs to be exported to the rest of the world.
The statements from Brandis and Kennan follow three days of raids across
Java to thwart plans for a suicide attack in the capital, Jakarta.
Nine arrests were made in the raids, which ended on Sunday. Chemicals,
detonators and a black flag, reportedly Isis-inspired, were confiscated.
The attacks were planned against police targets, members and ex-members
of the counter-terrorism squad Densus and Shia Muslims, Indonesias chief
of national police, Badrodin Haiti, said on Monday.
Those arrested are former members of Jemaah Islamiyah, the group
responsible for the 2002 bombings in Bali that killed over 200.
There is also a connection with Isis, he said.