An Australian doctor, working for the Islamic State (IS) in Syria, on Sunday said he anticipated an arrest warrant being issued against him and has no plans to return to the country.
Tareq Kamleh, 29, who now identifies himself as Abu Yousef Al-Australie, in a post on his Facebook page said police’s case against him did not indicate “a malicious character on my behalf” and it displayed the kind of injustice in the judicial system that was the catalyst for him leaving.
“I anticipated an arrest warrant, hence why I left secretly. Do as you please, I no longer consider myself an Australian,” The Age quoted him as saying.
The Adelaide magistrate`s court issued an arrest warrant against the doctor on Thursday.
Kamleh has worked in several Australian hospitals in Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory and is registered as a doctor in Western Australia.
The former paediatrician recently appeared in an IS propaganda video, revealing he had gone to Syria to work for the terrorist organisation.
Police said their joint counter-terrorism team obtained the warrant and would be able to arrest Kamleh immediately if he returned to Australia.
