Aussie IS recruiter tells court he is 'sorry' and 'wanted to leave' terrorist group
Australia's most infamous Islamic State terrorist has apologised for the trouble he's caused and claimed he was forced to become a jihadi recruiter.
Neil Prakash faced a Turkish court overnight, admitting some responsibility for inciting terror attacks in Australia.
He has been held in a Turkish prison for nearly a year.
Known inside the Islamic State group as Abu Khaled al-Cambodi, the 26-year-old told the court in Kilis, in southern Turkey, that he's “sorry for all” he’s done.
"When I went to ISIL, I was a new Muslim," he told the court.
"So I trusted whatever they said, but when I learnt, when I saw the truth, I wanted to leave, I was afraid for being killed - I am sorry for all."
The judge asked whether Prakash felt responsible for the ISIS organisation’s presence and influence in Australia.
He said: "I had something to do... but I was not 100 per cent responsible."
Prakash travelled to Syria in 2013 but was thought to have been killed in an air strike in Iraq in November 2016 before being arrested on the Turksih-Syrian border after a tip off from Australian authorities.
The Australian government wants him extradited to Australia so he can face trial at home for joining a terrorist organisation.
However, Turkish authorities are yet to decide whether that can happen, only after his trial in Turkey where he faces decades in jail.
