Aust works on rehab for jailed terrorists

Ms Bishop also joined counterparts from a key grouping of countries to affirm they will make their best efforts to ensure success at a key climate change conference in Paris.

Ms Bishop told AAP on Sunday (New York time) Australia was not negotiating any deal with Iran.

Hundreds of prisoners convicted of terrorism-related crimes are due to be released from Indonesian jails over the next couple of years, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says. “There needs to be a political outcome in Damascus – all options should remain on the table”, she said.

The forum was hosted by US Secretary of State John Kerry who said he wanted to address the “lifecycle” of radicalisation with grass roots programs like mentoring.

Bishop’s comments come just days after Tina S. Kaidanow, the U.S. State Department’s top counterterrorism official, said that the “trend was still upward” insofar as foreign nationals traveling to fight in Iraq and Syria are concerned.

“We need to do more than just identify and stop foreign terrorist fighters from arriving at their destination; we have to prevent them from getting into those pipelines in the first place”, Kaidanow said.

Strong words… Foreign Minister of Australia Julie Bishop at the United Nations. “It is also a concern that we have that this kind of perverted ideology could be spread within the prison system as it has been in other countries”, Bishop said.

She said hundreds of convicted terrorists are soon to be released from jails in the Asian region – particularly in Indonesia – and that they pose a significant threat if they have not been rehabilitated.

“Our number has doubled since last year, but I don’t expect it to double again by next year”, she said.

Ms Bishop said Australia was already doing grassroots work, and that a “multigenerational” focus was needed.