Aussies ‘negotiating’ return home after denying any role in IS conflict

TWO Australians who went to Syria and have been linked to terrorist activities try to negotiate a return as IS tries to counter defections with ridiculous ‘tourist’ brochure.

Aussies try to talk their way back

A QUEENSLAND teenager who left Australia and has been linked to a terrorist group in Syria denies being involved in any conflict and wants to come home.

Oliver Bridgeman, 18, has spoken to his devastated parents in Toowoomba, insisting he has only been doing humanitarian work, helping out in orphanages, and fears for his safety, the Courier-Mail reports.

He is the second Australian linked to terror activities in Syria who want to return.

Adam Brookman — who once wrote about his “mujaahid role” — also denies ever joining the Islamic State.

Brookman, 39, is one of three homesick men believed to have joined terror groups IS or Jabhat al-Nusra and who are trying to negotiate their return, The Australian reports.

Mr Bridgeman has reportedly told his parents he is in an area controlled by the al-Nusra front but is not fighting.

The Federal Government has taken a hard line and vowed anyone seeking to return to Australia after joining terror activities overseas would face lengthy jail terms.

“If you go, and you seek to come back, as far as this Government is concerned, you will be arrested, you will be prosecuted and you will be jailed,’’ the Prime Minister Tony Abbott said earlier this week.

Mr Bridgeman and Mr Brookman have both denied taking up arms and their futures may hinge on their ability to convince authorities of that.

Oliver Bridgeman, Toowoomba teenager who is in Syria.

Mr Bridgeman’s family are reportedly being assisted by counterterrorism agencies. They first raised the alarm when their son didn’t return home from Indonesia where he had been on a supposed charity work trip but was later found to have gone into Syria via Turkey.

AFP manager of counterterrorism operations Commander Peter Crozier told The Courier-Mail he was “hopeful” Australians would heed the messages flee the Middle East war zones.

“As far as saying we are confident of people coming back, we would hope that some people heed the messages,’’ Commander Crozier said.

And he signalled they could face tough penalties.

“If people think they are just going to walk through the front door and nothing is going to happen, then that is unfair and it’s being naive.”

The Australian reported Mr Brookman has claimed he was taken to an Islamic State hospital after being injured and was then prevented from leaving.

Adam Brookman reportedly wants to return to Australia.

While he admits to going to Syria, he has maintained he has avoided any conflict by carrying out medical work before he slipped out of the war-torn country and into Turkey.

Meanwhile, as foreigners line up to get out of Syria, IS has released a series of videos over the past two days urging others to join their cause, the Daily Telegraph reports.

In the videos the foreigners are told they will lose dignity if they “live like cowards” and are targeted at recruiting westerners.

A jihadist video, with English captions, shows a young man leaving France and travelling to join IS.

“You cannot remain silent. The banner is flying. The Caliphate has come,” the video says.

“How long have we dreamed of it. The time for Hijra (journey to Islamic State) has come. The banner is flying.”

Originally published as Aussies ‘negotiating’ return home after denying any role in IS conflict