Minister says IS-linked doctor should 'rot in jail' after his discovery in Iraq

The federal Opposition is calling on the government to block the potential return of an Australian man who joined the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) militant group and was widely believed to have been killed in Syria, before being found in an Iraqi jail.

Paediatrician Tareq Kamleh, colloquially known as "Doctor Jihad", who went by the name "Abu Yusuf al-Australi", travelled to Syria in 2015 to join the terror organisation.

He was assumed to have been killed in 2017's final siege of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the self-proclaimed Islamic caliphate in Syria.

But it has since been revealed Kamleh is one of 13 men linked to the terror group who are imprisoned in Iraq. The Australian newspaper reported on Wednesday he didn't die in the siege as his family believed.

He is believed to be among dozens of foreign fighters who were transferred from Syria to Iraq earlier this year.

When prisoners were first transferred from Syria to Iraq earlier this year, Baghdad appealed for nations to take back their citizens and asked for financial assistance to house them in the meantime.

SBS has been unable to independently verify whether the Australian prisoners are seeking to return home.

According to Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council, Kamleh told Iraqi authorities following his transfer that he did not directly participate in combat operations but worked within what was known as the "health department" of the IS group, utilising his medical qualifications and experience in healthcare. 

"He provided first aid and treatment to wounded ISIS members during terrorist operations and battles against security forces," the document, seen by SBS News, states.

"The accused's activities were not limited to providing medical services. He adopted the extremist group's propaganda, advocating for terrorist activity not to be confined to conflict zone."

Iraqi judge Ali Hussein Jafat, head of the National Center for International Judicial Cooperation, said that the investigation into Kamleh was ongoing.

Government 'won't be providing assistance'

Labor frontbencher Clare O'Neil said she didn't want Kamleh to ever return to Australia and he should "rot in jail".

"He's obviously made a decision to join a violent death cult, and he needs to be accountable for that," she said.

But fellow senior minister Murray Watt said the government faced constitutional limitations on preventing Kamleh, an Australian citizen, from returning.

"Anyone who returns to Australia who's been part of these sorts of organisations will face the full force of the law," Watt told Nine's Today program.

"We won't be providing assistance, just as we haven't provided assistance to others to come back."

Opposition leader Angus Taylor said the government needed to do more to prevent IS group-linked Australians from coming back.

"We have put legislation in front of the parliament to prevent third parties from helping people like him — terrorists — back into the country," he said.

He said the government should issue a temporary exclusion order preventing him from returning.

"Preventing third parties from aiding and abetting him to come back to this country – legislation is in front of the parliament that they could pass when we go back to parliament."

Watt said the Opposition was acutely aware of constitutional limitations and should not be pushing the government to do things beyond its ability.

At least 16 Australian women who left the country to marry IS group members have returned since 2022.

Several have since been charged with offences linked to their time overseas under the IS group umbrella.

Kamleh is wanted by the Australian Federal Police under an active warrant for terrorism offences, which include joining and recruiting for a banned organisation.

He studied medicine at the University of Adelaide before further training at Royal Adelaide Hospital and the Women's and Children's Hospital.

His registration was suspended in 2015 after he appeared in an IS group video that featured a premature baby.

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