Australia is attempting to extradite from Turkey a man suspected of being a high-profile Australian recruiter for the Islamic State (IS) group, the Australian government said yesterday.
The Australian government described Neil Prakash, also known as Abu Khaled al-Cambodi, as “the most dangerous Australian” involved with the extremist movement in the Middle East when he was reported killed in May by a US airstrike in the Iraqi city of Mosul.
Australian Minister for Justice Michael Keenan yesterday said the 24-year-old had survived the attack and was now in custody in Turkey.
Photo: EPA
“An individual we believe to be Neil Prakash has been arrested and detained in Turkey pursuant to Turkish legal processes,” Keenan’s office said in a statement, adding that Australia had filed a formal extradition request.
The statement did not say how the 24-year-old came to be in Turkey or how long he had been in custody. His arrest was the result of close collaboration between Australian and Turkish authorities, it said.
The Australian-born citizen of Cambodian and Fijian parents converted from Buddhism in 2012, and traveled to Syria a year later.
The former rapper from Melbourne has featured in Islamic State recruitment videos, has been linked to several attack plans in Australia and has urged lone wolf attacks against the US.
Prakash is the suspected inspiration for a 15-year-old Australian boy who was shot dead by police soon after he fatally shot a civilian police employee outside the state police headquarters in Sydney in October last year.
Prakash is also suspected of motivating an 18-year-old Australian who was shot dead after he stabbed two policemen outside a Melbourne police station in September 2014.
Prakash faces a potential life prison sentence if he is convicted in Australia of terrorism offenses.
Keenan’s office said the Australian government reported Prakash’s death in May on the basis of advice from the US.
“The government’s capacity to confirm reports of deaths in either Syria or Iraq is limited,” the statement said.
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