Australian jihadist supporter to be deported
AN Australian convert to Islam who used the Internet to urge people to join “jihad” in Iraq and Syria was arrested in the Philippines on Saturday, police said.
Robert Edward Cerantonio, 29, who also goes by the name Musa Cerantonio, was detained in Cebu and will be deported to Australia, -
“In one broadcast on his website, he called on brother Muslims to join
“We cannot say with certainty that he had any contact with lo
The Philippines has a large Muslim minority in the southern region of Mindanao, a hotbed for a decades-old Muslim insurgency and where Islamic militants
But Cebu’s police commander, there was “no evidence linking
Cerantonio was arrested at the request of the Australian government and will be deported because Canberra has cancelled his passport, making him an
embassy declined to comment
Television footage aired by the ABS- CBN network showed a bearded Caucasian man in a white robe being ushered out of
The station later showed him being escorted by police through Manila’s
Police said they had been monitoring the activities of the Melbourne native since February
He lived with a Philippine woman and moved around Cebu until his arrest at a one-room apartment near the airport, Capa told AFP in
“Fo r the most part, he keeps to himself in his rooms, in hotels or apartments,” Capa said, adding that the woman bought food and
The 32- year- old woman was wanted by police over an unrelated fraud case and was also ar
A police intelligence officer involved in the operation said Cerantonio had also visited Mindanao, though there was no indication he had tried to recruit State militants who have seized large swathes of territory in eastern
“Sometimes he mentions the Philippine government ( on his website), but does not call for vio
A report in The Australian newspaper last month described Cerantonio as a preacher and “one of (the Islamic - dists”, and that Australian police were
The newspaper said Cerantonio called for the assassination of West- ern leaders in a Facebook post in December, and that a study had found