Islamic State terrorist Prakash will be extradited to Australia in months: PM

Australia's most notorious Islamic State terrorist will be extradited from Turkey within months, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says.

Wanted for terrorism Neil Prakash

Islamic State terrorist and recruiter Neil Prakash has been stripped of his Australian citizenship. Source: SBS

Australia's most notorious Islamic State terrorist Neil Prakash will likely be extradited from Turkey within months, says Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

The 25-year-old Melbourne-born man, also known as Abu Khaled al-Cambodi, has been held in a Turkish maximum-security prison since his arrest last year.

"We should be getting him back within months, but it has obviously got to go through the Turkish processes," Mr Turnbull told the Seven Network.

"We are satisfied that Neil Prakash, who has been one of the key financiers and organisers in ISIL (Islamic State) - this barbaric terrorist group that we are determined to destroy - will be brought back to Australia and he will face the courts."

However, several government sources told AAP that Australia was still working with Turkish authorities, and no indications of a timeframe for the extradition had been given.

Prakash, who is of Fijian and Cambodian descent, left Australia for Syria via Malaysia in 2013.

He has featured in a number of IS propaganda videos in which he calls for attacks on Australia and the United States.

His Australian passport was cancelled in October 2014, and federal police issued a warrant for his arrest through Interpol in August 2015.

In November 2016 he was captured in Turkey - where he faces charges under domestic law - when he tried to cross from Syria using false documents.

Australia has had an extradition treaty with Turkey since 2003.

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Source: AAP


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