Australia Gets Tough on ISIS: Jihadis Banned from Country Even If Not Convicted

EXPRESS: ISLAMIC STATE (ISIS) jihadis fleeing Australia to fight for Daesh will be stripped of their citizenship even if they haven’t been brought before a court in a major crackdown on international terrorism.

The country’s tough stance on extremism will see anyone with dual citizenship who travels to the Middle East to fight for the crazed jihadis stranded in the group’s so-called Caliphate or deported elsewhere.

Senators voted on tough new laws targeting Islamist militants in response to the growing threat that ISIS poses to Western nations.

Security services believe that at least half of the 100 Australian extremists fighting for ISIS, also known as Daesh, hold dual nationality.

The Government has acted now to prevent them from coming back home and carrying out terrorist atrocities against innocent civilians. » | Nick Gutteridge | Friday, December 4, 2015

'A Crime Is a Crime Is a Crime': Tony Abbott Warns No Mercy for Remorseful Jihadis

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Remorseful jihadis who have joined Islamic State but want to return home will be welcomed back only to a jail cell, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has warned.

Three Australians who have joined Islamic State in Syria or Iraq are in talks with the government about potentially returning home.

Officials are suspicious about whether the trio is genuinely reformed and the immediate danger they could pose for embassy staff in the event they were assisted in coming back to Australia.

Mr Abbott said the men would be "arrested, prosecuted and jailed" should they return home, because they could easily "become a terrorist in Australia".

"A crime is a crime is a crime," Mr Abbott said. » | Latika Bourke, Marissa Calligeros | Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Threat to Diggers*

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Australia's most notorious jihadists fighting in Iraq have issued a macabre threat to Australian soldiers as their ranks were bolstered by a Melbourne-born preacher who has joined their new "caliphate".

Underscoring the deep concern the Abbott government has expressed in recent weeks about Australians involved with extremist groups, two prominent jihadists fighting with the al-Qaeda splinter group the Islamic State took to Twitter to issue fresh threats.

Mohamed Elomar, a former boxer from Sydney who has been implicated in executions of unarmed Iraqis, posted on the social media site a distressing picture of what appears to be a captured Iraqi soldier who has been beaten and is about to be executed.

The accompanying message states: "Look at the end of these Iraqi maliki dogs bunch of girls can't wait to see a Australian soldier cyring (sic) saying bakia."

"Bakia" means "he cries" in Arabic and "maliki" refers to the Shiite-led Iraqi government of Nouri al-Maliki, the fervent enemy of the Sunni extremists who have swept through northern Iraq in recent weeks. » | David Wroe | National Security Correspondent | Friday, July 05, 2014

* Digger is a military slang term for soldiers from Australia and New Zealand. [Source: Wikipedia]

Australian Jihadist Preacher Musa Cerantonio on His Way to Syria or Iraq

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: A firebrand Australian Muslim preacher says he is joining the ''caliphate'' established by ultraviolent jihadists in the Middle East - a move that could prove a powerful magnet to would-be extremist fighters.

Melbourne-born Musa Cerantonio, regarded internationally as an influential cheerleader for the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, appeared on Twitter early Wednesday morning to heap praise on the group and its announcement of a new Islamic state.

The former Catholic is believed to have been hiding out in the Philippines for months and is reportedly wanted by the Australian Federal Police.

Mr Cerantonio's announcement came as Attorney-General George Brandis confirmed the government was looking at ways to make sure Australians returning from fighting with extremists in the Middle East would not pose a danger at home. (+ video) » | David Wroe | Wednesday, July 02, 2014