Qld teen in Syria says he's no terrorist

A Queensland teenager who fled to Syria in April says he's having a "safe and wonderful" experience and is not involved in any terrorist activities.

Oliver Bridgeman

Oliver Bridgeman (Facebook) Source: Facebook

A Queensland teenager suspected of fleeing to Syria to fight with an al-Qaeda linked terror group says he is doing humanitarian work and has not taken up arms.

Oliver Bridgeman, 18, has taken to Facebook to reject reports he is involved in a terrorist organisation.

"My only activity in Syria is the distribution of medical supplies, food and basic life essentials inside the rural parts and turkish boarders of Syria," (sic) he wrote.

I AM NOT associated or fighting for any terrorist organisation (sic) or rebel group iside (sic) or outside Syria."

Mr Bridgeman has been in Syria since April after failing to return from a humanitarian trip to Indonesia.

Federal counter-terrorism police intelligence has suggested he is in a conflict zone and officers have been trying to communicate with the teen to persuade him to come home.

But Mr Bridgeman wrote on Facebook that he was having a "safe and wonderful experience" and didn't indicate when or if he would return.

"Even though Syria is in the middle of a civil war I have never feared for my life or saf(e)ty," he wrote, adding media reports about him were blatant lies.

The former Gold Coast student, who moved back to Toowoomba last year, had reportedly converted to Islam after becoming friends with several Muslim students at school.

His Facebook shows him with friends at school in 2014 and playing football with children in Indonesia in March this year.

Another Facebook profile, under the name Yusuf Oli, showed Mr Bridgeman posing at mosques.

"Extremism is as a result of lying against Allah," one post from December 2014 reads.

Mr Bridgeman's family has previously said they weren't aware the teen was planning to travel to the Middle East but didn't believe he would be participating in or supporting terrorist acts.


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Source: AAP


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