CEBU CITY (Cebu Examiner / July 11, 2014) – Philippine authorities arrested early Friday an Australian national believed to be a supporter or have links with Sunni ISIS militants who recently declared an Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria.
Authorities were interrogating Robert Edward, who goes by the name Sheikh Musa Cerantonio. He was arrested along with a Filipina woman in his apartment in Pajac village in Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu province.
No other details were made available by the police on the arrest of Edward or his companion, who has been identified as Joan Montayre, a native of southern Philippines.
The Australian newspaper reported that Edward is also being sought by Canberra for allegedly inciting Australians to fight in Syria. It said Edward even challenged Australian authorities to get him in the mountains of the Philippines.
It said Edward is widely regarded as one of the most influential boosters of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham and had last month renounced his Australian citizenship and fired off a string of defiant Twitter posts at the Australian Federal Police.
Edward, from Melbourne, has converted to Islam and has been named by the International Center for the Study of Radicalization as one of the three most influential sheiks for foreign fighters in Syria. A staunch backer of ISIS, he has called for the assassination of Western leaders, reports said.
The Australian reported that there are thought to be between 120 and 150 Australians fighting in Syria and almost all are with Jabhat al Nusra, al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, or ISIS.
The Abu Sayyaf, a small, but the most notorious militant group in southern Philippines is also supporting ISIS and it has issued a statement in a video uploaded in a Twitter account of ISIS supporter Abu Albawi which can be accessed on this URL https://twitter.com/abualbawi/media. (Cebu Examiner)
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