An Australian Passport Lies Atop A Pile Of Foreign And Local Passports Of Tsunami Victims
An Australian passport lies atop a pile of foreign and local passports of tsunami victims, recovered at a destroyed resort in Matavai on the southern coast of Western Samoa September 30, 2009. Reuters/Tim Wimborne

Australia suspended 60 passports after the individuals had been feared to be travelling to the Middle East to work for terrorists.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott revealed it in his address at the United Nations Security Council summit in New York. He said Australia's fight against the Islamic State would be "unflinching." He said the Australian government would persistently fight against anything that threatened the country's future "as a free, fair and multicultural society; a beacon of hope and exemplar of unity-in-diversity." Mr. Abbott said the government was in the process of changing the law to make sure Australian fighters, who had been fighting for terrorists in the Middle East, would be imprisoned after returning home for a significantly longer period.

Mr Abbott gave reference to the Tuesday incident when a terror suspect stabbed two police officers, injuring both of them. He also talked about the Australian operative in Syria who gave instructions to his local network to carry out random killings in the country, the Daily Telegraph reported. The Aussie PM said no matter how hard it might be to imagine, the citizens of a country like Australia with a pluralist democracy had "succumbed to such delusions." Mr Abbott mentioned how the government revoked the passports of 60 Australians to counter probable terrorist activity by them in the Middle East.

The Australian reported U.S. President Barack Obama asked nations to cooperate with one another to battle against terrorism in all forms. He called it "the cancer of violent extremism" that must be rejected by everyone. Mr Abbott said Australia's intelligence agencies, security and law enforcement should be given ample legal authority and resources so that they could successfully carry out the battle against terrorism. He said the terrorists could be punished if their finances were cut off.

Mr Abbott also said it would not be possible for the West to solve the problem alone. "The participation of Middle Eastern countries in this week's strike on ISIL in Syria is the clearest possible demonstration that the West can't solve this problem alone - and shouldn't have to," Mr Abbott said, "Even in what seem to be darkening times, there are grounds for hope: the ISIL horror has generated all-but- universal revulsion."

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au

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