Counterterrorism authorities in Australia have issued a warrant for the arrest on terrorism charges of an Australian doctor who works for the militant group Islamic State (IS) in Syria.
Tareq Badawi Kamleh, a former pediatric registrar who worked in hospitals in Australia, appeared in an IS propaganda video in April and said he was working in an IS-controlled hospital in Raqqa.
Kamleh, who called himself Abu Yusuf al-Australie, said he saw his work for IS as "part of [his] jihad for Islam."
He said "it's disappointing to think how many fellow Muslim brothers and sisters who are in the medical field...are still living in the West" and encourages them to "please consider coming, please don't delay," adding, "Inshallah, I'll see you soon."
The move follows a closed court hearing in which the Australian Federal Police (AFP) requested the arrest warrant.
The warrant was issued by the South Australian Joint Counter Terrorism Team (SAJCTT).
It lists three terrorism-related charges: membership in a terrorist organization, recruiting for a terrorist organization, and entering or remaining in a "declared area."
A statement from the SAJCTT said that the warrant authorizes Australian law enforcement to arrest Kamleh immediately if he returns to Australia.
Kamleh wrote a letter to a newspaper in Adelaide and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency dated April 8 in which he said that U.S.-led coalition forces have "more blood on their hands than [IS] has on their knives."
Kamleh also wrote that he never intends to return to Australia.
A Facebook account which the Australian media says belongs to Kamleh includes updates praising IS, although this has not been verified.
In the latest post on June 15, a man calling himself Tareq Kamleh wrote that "Pathology here is incredible."
