Australia notes increase in "terror chatter"

SYDNEY, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- An increase in the level of intercepted terrorist messages has been detected in Australia since the Islamist-related coffee shop siege in Sydney, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Tuesday.

He added he convened the country's National Security Committee to discuss the matter, but it chose to leave Australia's terrorist threat level at "high" instead of moving it to "extreme."

"Our police forces and our security and intelligence organizations are doing everything they possibly can to monitor and disrupt all the threats to our security. The briefing from the security agencies today indicated there has been a heightened level of terrorist chatter in the aftermath of the Martin Place siege. That's why it's important that people remain alert and aware as well as reassured that our police and security agencies are doing everything they humanly can to keep us safe," he said.

The Dec. 15 attack on the coffee shop, by local Islamist sympathizer Man Haron Monis, was a 16-hour ordeal in which 19 people were taken hostage and two were killed before the assailant was shot to death by police.

The threat level was raised to "high" in September after officials cited concerns over Australian citizens returning home after fighting in Iraq and Syria with the Islamic State, and over new laws to combat homegrown Islamist militants.