Alleged ISIS Recruiter Extradited from Türkiye to Australia

FILE: Fighters from the Popular Mobilization Forces secure the Iraqi-Syrian border in al-Qaim in Anbar province in Iraq | AFP
FILE: Fighters from the Popular Mobilization Forces secure the Iraqi-Syrian border in al-Qaim in Anbar province in Iraq | AFP
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Alleged ISIS Recruiter Extradited from Türkiye to Australia

FILE: Fighters from the Popular Mobilization Forces secure the Iraqi-Syrian border in al-Qaim in Anbar province in Iraq | AFP
FILE: Fighters from the Popular Mobilization Forces secure the Iraqi-Syrian border in al-Qaim in Anbar province in Iraq | AFP

An ISIS militant who featured heavily in the terrorist group's recruiting propaganda will be charged with "serious terror offences" after being extradited to Australia from Türkiye, federal police said Friday.

Neil Christopher Prakash, 31, was arrested in Türkiye in 2016 after crossing into the country from Syria, AFP reported.

Prakash was sentenced in 2019 to seven years imprisonment by a Turkish court, which found him guilty of belonging to a terrorist organization.

Australian Federal Police said Prakash arrived in Australia by plane on Friday morning.

"An investigation started in 2016 when the man was alleged to have travelled to Syria to fight with ISIS," it said in a statement.

"The AFP will allege in court that the man committed a range of serious terrorism offences."

Authorities have estimated some 230 Australians travelled to Iraq and Syria to take up arms since 2012 -- Prakash being one of the most prominent examples.

He featured in ISIS recruiting videos in which he urged Australians to "wake up" and join the group.

Prakash was described by former conservative prime minister Malcolm Turnbull as one of the "key financiers or organizers" for ISIS in the Middle East.

Former Australian attorney-general George Brandis in 2016 said Prakash had been killed in Iraq following a targeted US air strike.

It was later confirmed that he was wounded but not killed in the blast.



Zelenskiy Lauds Common Ground with Trump after 'Best' Vatican Meeting

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and US President Donald Trump meet, while they attend the funeral of Pope Francis, at the Vatican April 26, 2025. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and US President Donald Trump meet, while they attend the funeral of Pope Francis, at the Vatican April 26, 2025. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
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Zelenskiy Lauds Common Ground with Trump after 'Best' Vatican Meeting

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and US President Donald Trump meet, while they attend the funeral of Pope Francis, at the Vatican April 26, 2025. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and US President Donald Trump meet, while they attend the funeral of Pope Francis, at the Vatican April 26, 2025. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his brief meeting with US counterpart Donald Trump on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican a week ago was the best that the two men have had together.

In comments released by his presidential administration, Zelenskiy said that he and Trump agreed that a 30-day ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow was the correct first step towards peace in the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported.

He said he raised the topic of sanctions with Trump at the meeting, and that the response of the US president on this question was “very strong”. Zelenskiy did not give specifics on this.