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1. The Islamic State is recruiting ‘highly trained professionals’ to manufacture chemical weapons, Julie Bishop warns.
It has come to the attention of our Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, that the Islamic State are recruiting tried professionals to develop chemical weapons. She said as such while addressing the Australia Group in Perth on Friday.
IS has already used chlorine in an attack, and Ms Bishop is concerned that it is the “gravest security concern we face today.”
“They seek to undermine and overthrow that order and as we have seen, are prepared to use any and all means, any and all forms of violence they can think of to advance their demented cause,” she said.
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“That includes use of chemical weapons.”
Cabinet Minister Mathias Cormann said it would be “absolutely terrible” if IS was able to get hold of “chemical, biological or, even worse, nuclear weapons”.
“Countries around the world that are as committed as we are to defeating this threat have got to continue working together to make sure this doesn’t happen,” he said.
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“Chemical weapons often receive less public attention than nuclear and biological threats,” Julie Bishop has said.
“However, toxic chemicals were, by far, the most widely used and proliferated weapons of mass destruction in the 20th century.”