'Inconceivable' that caliphate will survive

The Islamic state declared by Sunni rebels is unlikely to endure, but its fate rests on what action the international community takes says ANU Professor Amin Saikal.
A firebrand Australian Muslim preacher says he is joining the ''caliphate'' established by ultraviolent jihadists in the Middle East - a move that could prove a powerful magnet to would-be extremist fighters.
Melbourne-born Musa Cerantonio, regarded internationally as an influential cheerleader for the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, appeared on Twitter early Wednesday morning to heap praise on the group and its announcement of a new Islamic state.
A screen grab from a Musa Certantonio clip on YouTube Musa Cerantonio in one of his videos on YouTube.
The former Catholic is believed to have been hiding out in the Philippines for months and is reportedly wanted by the Australian Federal Police.
Mr Cerantonio's announcement came as Attorney-General George Brandis confirmed the government was looking at ways to make sure Australians returning from fighting with extremists in the Middle East would not pose a danger at home.
''The government is looking carefully at all existing legislation that bears upon this issue, in particular the terrorism provisions of the criminal code to ensure there are no gaps in our capacity to keep Australia safe,'' he said.
The case of Mr Cerantonio is particularly troubling because of his large online following and the risk that his presence in the Middle East would encourage other Australians to travel to the region.
On Twitter early on Wednesday morning, he gave enthusiastic support to the announcement by ISIL that it was creating a caliphate, or Muslim state, in the territory it has seized straddling parts of Syria and Iraq.
''Insha'Allah (God-willing) I will be arriving in Ash-Sham (the Levant) very shortly, keep us in your du'a (prayers), getting ready to travel,'' he wrote. ''May Allah bless and protect our Imam, our Amir, our Khalifah, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Al-Baghdadi is the leader of ISIL - an ultra-violent al-Qaeda splinter group believed to have executed thousands of civilians in Iraq - and has declared himself the caliph of the new territory. Mr Cerantonio was described in a recent report by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King's College, London, as one of the three most influential preachers online.
One in four foreign fighters in the Middle East followed his Twitter account, while his Facebook page was the third most ''liked'' page among jihadists, the study found.
Senator Brandis said he would introduce new laws to the Senate in two weeks that would reform security agencies' powers and ensure there were no legal loopholes in the fight against terrorism.
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