Fist-bumping spy chided by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop – The West Australian

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has gently chided her top foreign spy after he was photographed making a fist bump with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte.

Bizarre images emerged yesterday of the director-general of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service Nick Warner making the fist gesture with the President during a recent meeting in the country’s capital.

President Duterte is fighting a growing Islamic insurgency in his country, but he has also outraged foreign governments and human rights groups with his encouragement of extra judicial killings of drug dealers.

The Foreign Minister appeared to agree the images were not a good look for Australia’s most covert agency.

“Australia’s Secret Intelligence Service is called a secret intelligence service for a reason,” she said.

“So, preferably the work that ASIS does is below the surface but there are instances where it becomes public.”

Ms Bishop said Mr Warner performed the gesture following a request from President Duterte.

“The Director-General meets with leaders from time to time. I understand that the action – the fist bump – was not the director general’s idea,” she said.

Australia appears to be committing increasing resources to help the fight against Islamic State and jihadi fighters in the southern Philippines.

In June Australia said it would send a RAAF P3 Orion surveillance aircraft to track extremists.

Ms Bishop said the southern Philippines risked becoming the headquarters for IS in the region.

“There is a significant issue in the southern Philippines involving ISIS foreign terrorist fighters who are carrying out urban warfare in Marawi and Mindanao in the southern Philippines,” she said.

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