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Assistant Defense Minister Stuart Robert said that Caner Temel, who died in Syria in January while fighting for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham, was an Australian soldier who had gone AWOL in 2010. He was among six fighters allegedly recruited for al Qaeda-linked groups by Hamdi Alqudsi, 39, a disability pensioner in Granville who is also known as Ibrahim Galiel. Mohammed Ali Baryalei, an Australian suspected of working with Alqudsi, is thought to be in Turkey. Australian intelligence estimates that over 100 Australians have joined the ranks of Syrian rebels.