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IN PHOTO: Police stand outside one of the homes raided in southwestern Sydney as part of a series of counter-terrorism raids November 8, 2005. Australian authorities believe they have foiled a major terrorist attack, arresting 17 people on Tuesday during raids in the country's two biggest cities of Sydney and Melbourne. REUTERS/David Gray

Australian Service Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) chief Duncan Lewis in a meeting with Prime Minister Tony Abbott and justice minister Michael Keenan at the agency’s headquarter in Canberra attended by TV reporters and journalists laid out a map detailing the places from where majority of the terrorists were recruited. From the map Melbourne and Sydney topped the list.

According to The Guardian, the classified documents were revealed on TV during a photo opportunity. Labor has now asked for an explanation over how top secret documents were allowed to be filmed during his visit. According to ABC, ASIO confirmed that the mapped documents were not supposed to be public at any cost. They believe that it might threaten nation’s domestic security. Opposition defence spokesman David Feeney accused Mr. Abbott of a security breach.

The map not only showed Sydney and Melbourne but also included Greenacre, Punchbowl, Auburn, Bankstown, Craigieburn and Campbellfield. However, a representative for Mr Abbott confirmed that Mr. Lewis is more than "satisfied that no information of national security significance was visible while media representatives were present.”

ASIO issued a statement saying that the documents shown could not be the “subject of a national security classification” as it was brief, unclassified and edited. Mr Lewis said that while briefing Mr Abbott on a security situation in Syria and Iraq, the documents might have been exposed and confirmed that media reporters were only called for a specified time.

The map showed the concentration of such recruits in the suburban areas of Melbourne and Sydney with regard to which an ASIO spokesman told ABC that it was strictly meant for official purposes. It also showed the number of Australian militants predominantly fighting in Syria and Iraq.

Contact the writer on : priya.shayani@gmail.com