The source said federal officials were initially alerted after receiving information from US authorities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey knew that he was alive, I told them in 2022,\u201d the source\u00a0told the Australian.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLess than a year ago, DFAT received a second, definitive confirmation from officials stating that\u00a0Kamleh\u00a0was alive and being held in a prison.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The source also claimed government agencies had been aware of concerns involving Kamleh\u2019s children.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was their secret until\u00a0today,\u00a0they decided not to get involved when me and organisations like the Red Cross pleaded for Tareq\u2019s young boys to be rescued. They wanted to stay out of it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The revelations have intensified political pressure on Labor, with the opposition demanding the government explain what action was taken after being alerted to\u00a0Kamleh\u2019s\u00a0whereabouts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shadow foreign affairs\u00a0spokesman\u00a0Ted O\u2019Brien said the government\u2019s priority should be protecting Australians from those who travelled overseas to support Islamic State.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a person who chose a life of hate over the Australian people. He is against our country; he is against our way of life. We\u00a0don’t\u00a0want him back in our country,\u201d he told Sky News First Edition on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a person who has encouraged other people to go and kill; that is not a doctor who saves lives, that is a doctor who encourages death. We\u00a0don’t\u00a0want him here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The government has argued its ability to prevent\u00a0Kamleh\u00a0returning is limited, with Environment Minister Murray Watt saying existing powers could not simply be expanded.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are limits around what governments can do, but certainly anyone who returns to Australia who\u2019s been part of these sorts of organisations will face the full force of the law,\u201d Senator Watt said\u00a0on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Home Affairs Minister\u00a0Tony Burke previously said the legal threshold for Temporary Exclusion Orders could not be lowered following High Court decisions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kamleh\u2019s father Imad said he only discovered his son was alive after a recent phone call from a Red Cross representative.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had spent years believing his only son had died while fighting for Islamic State.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\u2018Major](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/f9ba78f212e7513bde331ab64af42348.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Mr Kamleh said his family remained devastated by his son\u2019s decision to abandon his life in Australia and join the terror group.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHis mum is still\u00a0very, very upset\u00a0and\u00a0very angry. She will never forget it,\u00a0I\u2019ll\u00a0never forget it,”\u00a0he\u00a0told the Australian.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Our only son, he had graduated and become a professional, he could have been useful in helping the community. And then suddenly, from one day to the other,\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0in this situation.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said he had not realised his son was developing extremist beliefs before leaving Australia.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0pick up the things. I was very naive. If I would have known I would have tried to speak to him, to explain to him the silliness of his decision,\u201d Mr Kamleh said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr Kamleh said he understood why the government may not want his son to return\u00a0and\u00a0will\u00a0accept whatever decision authorities make.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever the Australian government decides for him,\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0fine,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Albanese government is facing fresh pressure over what it knew about Islamic State-linked Australian Tareq\u00a0Kamleh\u00a0after claims 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