Overview
Khoder Soueid is a Melbourne-based sheikh, purported Islamic extremist, and supporter of ISIS.Khoder Soueid, Twitter, accessed July 16, 2015, https://twitter.com/KhoderSoueid5. He is active on Twitter, using the online platform to espouse his radical ideology and propagandize for the terror group.Michael Bachelard and David Wroe, “Islamic State recruiter makes contact with popular Melbourne sheikh,” Sydney Morning Herald, May 15, 2015, http://www.smh.com.au/national/islamic-state-recruiter-makes-contact-with-popular-melbourne-sheikh-20150515-gh1xo9.html. On a previous account, Soueid reportedly followed Neil Prakash, Australia’s top recruiter for ISIS.Michael Bachelard and David Wroe, “Islamic State recruiter makes contact with popular Melbourne sheikh,” Sydney Morning Herald, May 15, 2015, http://www.smh.com.au/national/islamic-state-recruiter-makes-contact-with-popular-melbourne-sheikh-20150515-gh1xo9.html. Soueid has tweeted against western air strikes in Syria and Iraq, describing the actions of the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS as “cowardly.”
The purported ISIS-supporter reportedly lectures at the Hume Islamic Youth Centre located in a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, and has a large following of young men.Michael Bachelard and David Wroe, “Islamic State recruiter makes contact with popular Melbourne sheikh,” Sydney Morning Herald, May 15, 2015, http://www.smh.com.au/national/islamic-state-recruiter-makes-contact-with-popular-melbourne-sheikh-20150515-gh1xo9.html. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, he has referred to deceased ISIS recruiter Sheikh Abu Malik al-Nashwan as a “martyr.”Michael Bachelard and David Wroe, “Islamic State recruiter makes contact with popular Melbourne sheikh,” Sydney Morning Herald, May 15, 2015, http://www.smh.com.au/national/islamic-state-recruiter-makes-contact-with-popular-melbourne-sheikh-20150515-gh1xo9.html. On his suspected Twitter account, Soueid claims to be a graduate of the Islamic University of Medina in Saudi Arabia.Khoder Soueid, Twitter, accessed July 15, 2015, https://twitter.com/KhoderSoueid5.
Twitter has purportedly suspended numerous iterations of Soueid’s previous accounts. According to Soueid, one of his accounts only existed for five hours before it was suspended.Khoder Soueid, Twitter post, July 11, 2015, 4:48 a.m., https://twitter.com/KhoderSoueid5/status/619835666986172416.
Soueid is able to quickly resurface under a different account. His account under the handle @KhoderSoueid5 gained approximately 500 followers in less than two weeks.Khoder Soueid, Twitter, accessed July 21, 2015, https://twitter.com/KhoderSoueid5. CEP suspects that Soueid creates new accounts on iterations of the @KhoderSoueid handle, adding the number 2, 3, 4, etc. at the end of the handle with each new account.
Associated Groups
- Extremist entity
- ISIS
- Read Threat Report
- Type(s) of Organization:
- Insurgent, territory-controlling, religious, terrorist, violent
- Ideologies and Affiliations:
- Islamist, jihadist, pan-Islamist, Salafist, takfiri
- Position(s):
- Propagandist
ISIS is a violent jihadist group based in Iraq and Syria. The group has declared wilayas (provinces) in Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the North Caucasus. ISIS has also waged attacks in Turkey, Lebanon, France, Belgium, Iraq, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Tunisia, and Kuwait.
History
Daily Dose
Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.
In Their Own Words:
We reiterate once again that the brigades will directly target US bases across the region in case the US enemy commits a folly and decides to strike our resistance fighters and their camps [in Iraq].
Mar. 2023