Australian-born 'playboy' jihadi doctor in new ISIS video
An Australian doctor who fled to Syria and joined Islamic State in 2015 has reappeared in a new propaganda video telling Muslims who don't join IS they have no self respect.
The fresh video of Tareq Kamleh - who travelled to the war-torn country in 2015 – has surfaced online and focuses on civilian victims of airstrikes, Fairfax media reports.
Kamleh’s sudden departure from Australia shocked his colleagues at hospitals in Adelaide and Queensland who described him as “a lazy doctor” and a "lost soul" who would “flirt with his patients”.
The new video suggests Kamleh has survived in the country for about two years.
He is seen holding a machine gun, with a long beard, and is believed to be inside a tunnel under Raqqa.
Kamleh says he is “surprised” by the Muslim nation's current actions.
“It really surprises me of how the Muslim nation is acting at the moment and how stagnant you have all become,” he is heard saying.
“You have no honour, you have no self-respect, and you have no love for fellow Muslims.”
While he no longer classifies himself as an Australian after fleeing the nation, his Australian accent is still noticeable in the video.
Kamleh grew up in Perth, born to a Palestinian father and a German mother.
It was alleged in 2015 that Kamleh's attitude shifted dramatically following a camping trip, with those who knew him at the time describing it as a "complete personality change".
"He went on a camping trip with some people – I don't know who they were or what they told him, but it was after that," a former hospital colleague told the publication in 2015.
The Australian doctor is hailed as the face of Islamic State’s health service, but has previously been described as a “fraud” and a “creep” who slept with his patients.
Former colleagues made explosive claims after his departure that the former Adelaide University student was a “sexually manipulative fraud” who exploited his patients and girlfriends, according to a report in The Australian.
It is also alleged he slept with a sex worker while she was a patient at Mannum District Hospital, one former colleague said.
He was intimate with her after checking her medical records, according to the anonymous colleague.
“I feel reluctant to speak ill of a former colleague, but as he is now portraying himself as a jihadist and calling others to join the so-called caliphate, I feel I should,” the colleague told media.
“At the time, he was one of the most immoral people I knew, in terms of promiscuity at least.”
Kamleh allegedly had a second Facebook page, which allowed him to cheat on his girlfriends without them knowing.
He was also kicked out of his flat for “improper conduct” towards a female housemate.
Kamleh has had his passport and medical registration cancelled in Australia.
The AFP issued a warrant for his arrest in June 2015.
Kamleh took to his now deactivated Facebook page at the time and said he “no longer considers himself an Australian”.
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