Australian 'jihadist preacher' arrives in Melbourne after Philippines deportation

Melbourne man Robert Edward Cerantonio who is suspected of using the internet to urge people to join jihad in Iraq and Syria has touched down in Australia.

Philippine Immigration officers escort Robert Edward Cerantonio (C), an Australian convert to Islam who used the internet to urge people to join "jihad" in Iraq and Syria. (File: AAP)

An Australian man with suspected links to Islamist militants in Syria and Iraq has landed in Australia, the ABC reports.

Robert Edward "Musa" Cerantonio, 29, was arrested on July 11 in the central province of Cebu and charged with being an undocumented foreigner after Australian authorities cancelled his passport on July 7.

Bureau of Immigration chief Siegried Mison on Tuesday confirmed Cerantonio was accompanied by four escorts on a Philippine Airlines flight to Melbourne.

Mison had said earlier Cerantonio's activities "pose a risk to public interest".

Philippine police described Cerantonio as a "jihadist preacher" who has been using social media websites to call for jihad and encourage Filipino Muslims to support the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

Cerantonio is believed to have travelled to the southern Philippine provinces of Basilan and Sulu, a known hot bed of Filipino Muslim extremists and local terrorist groups with links to al-Qaeda.