Counter-terrorism expert says government likely to be given priority as minister confirms extradition request has been made

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The government has a strong case to have Australia’s most wanted terrorist, Islamic State recruiter Neil Prakash, prosecuted in the country under Australian law, a counter-terrorism expert has said.

Prakash, formerly of Melbourne, is reportedly alive and was arrested by Turkish authorities trying to cross from Syria into that country several weeks ago.

The Australian government had previously reported, based on US-provided information, that Prakash had been killed in April in northern Iraq.

Prakash, who has been linked to several failed Australian terrorism plots to kill civilians, was only injured, not killed, in Mosul on 29 April, as previously announced, The New York Times reported on Friday.

Australian justice minister Michael Keenan has confirmed that the government believes the man in custody in Turkey is Prakash and that it has made a formal extradition request for his return.



Neil Prakash, Australian fighter recruited by Isis, reportedly arrested in Middle East Read more

Australia has an extradition treaty with Turkey, and also broadly equivalent terrorism charges under which he could be prosecuted, which would assist any extradition process. However, any effort to return Prakash to Australia is likely to take months.

“We are conscious that this individual has been arrested by Turkish authorities and their processes need to be respected and allowed to be completed,” a spokeswoman for the minister said.



“Australia will collaborate closely with Turkish authorities in accordance with law. Australia and Turkey have a longstanding history co-operation to combat terrorism.”

The 25-year-old Prakash was linked to a failed Melbourne plot to behead a police officer on Anzac Day last year, and to the actions of Numan Haider, an 18-year-old who was killed after stabbing two police officers in Melbourne in 2014.

Prakash, also known as Abu Khaled al-Cambodi, was on a list of high-value Isis recruiters and motivators deliberately targeted by the US in drone attacks in Iraq.

He was part of a cell of English-speaking Isis propagandists known by the FBI as “The Legion”. The US targeted The Legion because of their ability to reach, radicalise and recruit potential Isis fighters in the west.

The director of the Counter Terrorism Policy Centre at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Jacinta Carroll, told the ABC it was likely Australia would be given priority to prosecute the senior militant, given his influence and links to attacks here.

“Australia has a very strong case to have him prosecuted for offences committed under Australian law,” she said.

Prakash was reportedly arrested by Turkish authorities several weeks ago after being contacted by Australian officials, who believed they had intelligence he was planning to enter the country.

Carroll said several countries would be interested in Prakash’s knowledge, given he has been implicated in a number of plots and would have links to other activities.

Neil Prakash, Australia's most senior operative in Islamic State, reported dead Read more

“They also may have him implicated in crimes in their own countries as we do in Australia,” she said.

Australian authorities would be now seeking to proceed with Prakash’s arrest warrant for foreign fighter activities and involvement in crimes on home soil, Carroll said.

Most importantly, authorities will be trying to find other Australians he was involved with at home to conduct attacks and recruit to the Middle East.



The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, named Prakash in May as the most senior Australian operative in Isis, telling parliament he “used cyberspace to promote the evil ideology” of Isis “and recruit Australian men, women and children – many of whom are either still in the conflict zone or dead”.

“Prakash and others ruthlessly target and groom our children – vulnerable children – with hateful propaganda of terrorism which perverts the religion of Islam,” Turnbull said.