Australian Jihadi doctor a womaniser: report
A young Australian doctor, who has appeared in the latest Islamic State propaganda video urging foreign medics to join the terror group against the west, was reportedly a womaniser, it has been revealed.
The video shows a young doctor, identified by several media outlets as Tareq Kamleh, calling on other medical professionals to travel to Syria and help launch the Islamic State Health Service.
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In the footage, Kamleh, who introduces himself as Abu Yusuf al-Australi, is seen handling a baby in the maternity ward of a Syrian hospital while wearing Western style surgery scrubs.
The once unidentified 'jihadi' doctor was recognised by former colleagues, past students and friends once the propaganda film went viral.
Kamleh, who is thought to be in his late twenties, completed his medical degree at Adelaide University, according to reports.
It has also been revealed that he worked as a pediatric registrar at the Adelaide Women's and Children's Hospital before moving to north Queensland where he worked at Mackay Base Hospital.
In 2014, he reportedly moved to Perth before leaving Australia for Syria.
A university student who knew Kamleh, but did not want to be named, described him as a 'pretty normal guy' who showed no signs of holding extreme Islamic views.
He was well known in her group of friends as a 'womaniser' who regularly drank alcohol, she told News Corp.
A former colleague from Adelaide Hospital also spoke out after recognising Kamleh in the clip, which appeared on social media on Thursday.
"I was taken aback because I certainly wouldn't have associated him with an association like IS. His principle seemed to be sound and focused on the care of his patients," he told Fairfax.
"I know he dated a few nurses and other doctors over the years...he was heterosexual and certainly interested in the ladies, with some success."
In the video, Kamleh is interviewed inside what appears to be a hospital in the IS stronghold of Raqqa.
“My name is Abu Yusuf. I made hijrah from Australia to the Islamic State to live under the khilafah," he said.
"I saw this as part of my jihad for Islam, to help the Muslim Ummah in the area that I could which is the medical field and when I got here while I was very happy that I made the decision and I was a little bit saddened by how long I'd delayed it.
"I wish I'd come sooner."
He then urges other doctors to join the terror group's latest initiative, citing a shortage of trained medical professionals.
“It is disappointing to think how many fellow Muslims brothers and sisters in the medical field, who are doctors and nurses, physios, who are still living in the West and are unfortunately the Muslims living here are suffering, not necessary a lack of equipment or medicine but a mainly a lack of qualified medical care.”
The video comes on the back of nine British medical students traveling to Syria last month.
Morning news break – April 26
