![\"Matthew](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/41bbd81bdfa5a98f70781cb78575df66d9219510.png\")
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July 22, 2026 \u2014 11:54am<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n A Perth-born pediatrician who became a notorious Islamic State fighter will face the full force of the law if he returns to Australia, the Albanese government has vowed, as the opposition calls for the man named \u201cDr Jihad\u201d to be blocked from returning to the country.<\/p>\n Tareq Kamleh, who was presumed to have been killed in Syria almost a decade ago, has been revealed to be one of 13 men linked to the terror group who are imprisoned in Iraq and hope to return to Australia.<\/p>\n Environment Minister Murray Watt said the government faced constitutional limitations on preventing Australian citizens returning to the country as he decried anyone who has made the \u201cabsolutely awful decision to join a foreign terrorist organisation\u201d.<\/p>\n Asked if Kamleh will be allowed to return to Australia, Watt told Channel Nine: \u201cThat remains to be seen … Sometimes there are limits around what governments can do. But certainly, anyone who returns to Australia who\u2019s been part of these sorts of organisations will face the full force of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n Watt added: \u201cWe won\u2019t be providing assistance, just as we haven\u2019t provided assistance to others to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n Kamleh is wanted by the AFP under an active warrant for terrorism offences, including joining and recruiting for a banned terrorist organisation.<\/p>\n The Australian reported on Wednesday morning that court documents show the 41-year-old is alive and did not die in the siege of Raqqa in 2017, as his family and authorities had believed.<\/p>\n Housing Minister Clare O\u2019Neil said Kamleh could \u201crot in jail\u201d, adding: \u201cAs far as I\u2019m concerned, I never want that person to return to Australia. He\u2019s obviously made a decision to join a violent death cult, and he needs to be accountable for that.\u201d<\/p>\n A government spokesperson said the government had made clear it \u201cwill not provide any assistance to any Australian who made the horrific choice to lead a dangerous terrorist organisation\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe safety of the Australian community is this government\u2019s highest priority,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n Opposition leader Angus Taylor said the government needed to do more to prevent ISIS-linked Australians returning home.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have seen over the last week an ISIS bride get out on bail, and now just in the last day or so, we\u2019ve seen an ISIS terrorist who\u2019s living offshore, wanting to come back to our country,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Labor Party needs to commit to preventing that from happening. They have many levers at their disposal.<\/p>\n \u201cThey can ensure that this person does not get a passport, they can use temporary exclusion orders.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cWe have put legislation in front of the parliament to prevent third parties from helping people like him, terrorists, back into the country.\u201d<\/p>\n Watt said that members of the opposition \u201cknow very well that there are constitutional limits around the ability of a government to prevent an Australian citizen from returning to Australia and that\u2019s why more than 40 Australian foreign fighters returned under the Coalition government\u201d.<\/p>\n Kamleh studied medicine at the University of Adelaide before training as an intern and registrar at Royal Adelaide Hospital and the Women\u2019s and Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n The Medical Board of Australia announced in 2015 it had suspended Kamleh\u2019s registration after he appeared in a slick Islamic State propaganda video tending to a premature baby.<\/p>\n Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Tareq](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/23ae95e41ab99af53110604b11e85c6ac7e94ed7.jpeg\")
Tareq Kamleh pictured in an ISIS propaganda video.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0773fb575f2f31c786d49c0ea23f89d039659237032fe7d9fb6ac8f96d6adb95.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Matthew](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769630235_926_41bbd81bdfa5a98f70781cb78575df66d9219510.png\")
Matthew Knott<\/a> is the foreign affairs and national security correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X<\/a>, Facebook<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"July 22, 2026 \u2014 11:54am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":815764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-815763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=815763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/815764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=815763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=815763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=815763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}