Australian convicted of recruiting foreign fighters for Islamic State
At least two of the recruits died in Syria
The first person charged in Australia with recruiting and sending fighters to Syria was convicted Tuesday of recruiting six foreign fighters.
Hamdi Alqudsi, 42, was found guilty in a unanimous decision by the New South Wales state Supreme Court of aiding the men to fight with extremist groups in 2013.
“The charges were give money/goods to promote/support foreign hostile acts,” a court spokeswoman said. Each of the seven charges carries a 10 year prison sentence. Alqudsi is yet to be sentenced.
Prosecutors alleged that Alqudsi made arrangements for the men to travel to Syria in 2013 for the purpose of fighting alongside groups listed by the Australian government as terrorist organisations.
Under tough new security powers passed in 2014, Australians face up to a decade in prison for overseas travel to areas declared off limits, which includes the province of Raqqa in Syria, a key strategic hub for Islamic State militants.
Two of the men Alqudsi recruited – Tyler Casey and Caner Temel – were killed in Syria, the ABC reported. Two other men, Muhammed Abdul-Karim Musleh and Mehmet Biber, have since returned, it said.
About 100 people have left Australia for Syria to fight alongside organisations such as Islamic State, Australia’s Immigration Minister said earlier this year.
Australia, a staunch US ally, has been on heightened alert for attacks by home-grown radicals since 2014 and authorities say they have thwarted a number of plots.
There have been several “lone wolf” assaults, including a 2014 cafe siege in Sydney that left two hostages and the gunman dead. Also in 2014, police shot dead a Melbourne teenager after he stabbed two counter-terrorism officers.
Additional reporting by Associated Press
