Australian jihadist supporter 'a fraud'

An Australian convert to Islam arrested in the Philippines for using the Internet to urge people to join "jihad" in Iraq and Syria was branded "a fraud" Monday by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.

Cerantonio_140712_AFP.jpg

An Australian man who has been urging fellow Muslims to support "jihad" in Iraq and Syria will be deported after he was arrested in the Philippines. (AAP)

Robert Edward Cerantonio, 29, who also goes by the name Musa Cerantonio, was detained in the central city of Cebu on Friday and will be deported to Australia, Philippine police said.

A report in The Australian newspaper described Cerantonio as a preacher and "one of (the Islamic State's) most influential propagandists", but Bishop belittled the Melbourne native.

"It seems that he is just a fraud, because he was saying that he was fighting in Syria and Iraq when all the time he was holed up in a flat in the Philippines," she told Sky News.

"So presumably he's a fraud who has tried to dupe people into this dangerous activity. What happens to him will be a matter for the authorities."

Cerantonio was arrested at the request of the Australian government and will be deported because Canberra has cancelled his passport, making him an illegal alien, Philippine officials said.

The Philippines has a large Muslim minority in the southern region of Mindanao, a hotbed for a decades-old Muslim insurgency and where Islamic militants linked to Al-Qaeda also operate.

But Cebu's police commander, Chief Superintendent Prudencio Banas, said there was "no evidence linking him to any terror act".

Police said they had been monitoring his activities since February when he arrived in Cebu, the country's largest metropolis outside Manila.

He lived with a Philippine woman and moved around Cebu until his arrest at a one-room apartment near the airport.


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AFP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world