Australian jihadi cried and told recruiter he was ‘over it’ after watching fellow ISIS fighters die
An Australian fighting for ISIS and suffering from heat exhaustion, cried during an intercepted phone call with an accused militant recruiter in Sydney, after watching too many of his fellow jihadis die.
In a conversation intercepted by police, Muhammad Ali Baryalei sobbed and told Hamdi Alqudsi he was "over it" having watched his "emir", militant commander, die during a failed assault in Syria, News Corp reports.
It is believed Baryalei was killed in 2014 while in Syria.
"At first I started crying I was just... that day I don't know. We got smashed man," Baryalei said during the conversation.
The call was one of a number of phone and text conversations presented in evidence to the NSW Supreme Court Monday, in the trial of Mr Alqudsi, a 41-year-old western Sydney man, accused of recruiting seven Australians to fight for ISIS in Syria.
Crown Prosecutors have based their case on a number of electronic communications, including phone calls, SMS messages and social media conversations, between the two men.
The St Helens Park man pleaded not guilty to all seven counts of recruiting and assisting with the intention of facilitating entry into Syria for hostile activity, dating from June to November 2013.
In the call Baryalei told Mr Alqudsi he would get the alleged recruiter in touch with ISIS leaders and that he "wants to open the door for the rest of the boys".
It is alleged four the men Mr Alqudsi assisted, travelled to Turkey before heading into Syria in mid-2013 with Mr Alqudsi allegedly saying in one intercepted call with Mr Baryalei that "four brothers are coming this week".
"There are four brothers and there are more coming, after that and I have told them you are the emir when they arrive — this is now starting to be very serious," the accused allegedly said.
The men reportedly aligned with rival rebel groups and ended up fighting each other, News Corp reports.
One the alleged recruits, Tyler Casey, joined Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda-linked group.
ISIS fighters in Allepo killed Casey and his wife Amira Karroum, from the Gold Coast, in January 2014.
Camer Temel, another recruited Australian, joined ISIS but was killed in battle around the same time.
Defence barrister Scott Corrish said the trips were organised to transport the men to war affected Syria, where there was a need for humanitarian aid.
The jury also heard a conversation from June 2013 with Wassim Fayad, based in Sydney, which discussed "four soccer players" going on a trip.
"Four of your soccer players are leaving anytime this week or anytime next week do you know that?" Mr Alqudsi asked Mr Fayad.
Mr Fayad said he was "very jealous I can't be in that game".
The trial continues.
News break – June 28
