A member of a well-known Sydney crime family left the country for the Turkey-Syrian border about the time police wanted to talk with him about the shooting of Michael Ibrahim.
Now he is back on home soil, he is expected to face questions from detectives still hunting for the person responsible for showering Mr Ibrahim in a hail of bullets outside a CBD building in January this year.
Osman Haouchar, 26, arrived back in Australia in recently after spending several months in the Middle East, where he claimed to be working as a humanitarian aid volunteer in Antakya, Turkey.
He documented his journey on social media with photographs at camps and helping young children.
However, authorities are sceptical of his activities overseas, with at least one family associate suspected of travelling to Syria in the past.
"It is not like he was over there giving out toothbrushes," one source said.
On his arrival back in Sydney, Mr Haouchar was questioned by Australian Federal Police (AFP) before being released into the community.
An AFP spokesperson said the public could be assured any Australian identified as a security threat would be investigated.
"The safety of the community is the main priority of all Australian government agencies involved in this matter," the spokesperson said in a statement.
Mr Haouchar's sister was married to a man who reached "martyrdom", according to a friend, and was killed in the Middle East last year.
His brothers are well-known to police across Sydney.
Fairfax Media understands police were keen to talk to Mr Haouchar after Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim's brother, Michael, survived being shot out outside his Macquarie St apartment block on January 4.
Mr Haouchar left for the Middle East about two weeks after the shooting. It is unclear whether he was aware the police wanted to talk to him.
While investigators identified many people of interest in the shooting, Fairfax Media understands police are likely to try to question Mr Haouchar about any knowledge of the incident.
Sources have told Fairfax Media there has been long-running tension between the two families.
Mr Ibrahim, who had been released on parole months earlier, was shot in the shoulder.
The former nightclub doorman was released from jail after serving more than his 6½-year minimum sentence for the manslaughter of Robin Nassour, brother of Fat Pizza comedian George Nassour, who was fatally stabbed in 2006.
However, the 36-year-old's taste of freedom was short-lived. His parole was revoked on January 15 after he allegedly breached a non-association order.
Sources connected to Mr Ibrahim said after the shooting that he had been using his time out of jail to catch up with previous associates.
The Haouchars are also closely associated with the Alameddines, who have had their Merrylands home raided on at least two occasions this year by police searching for guns.
Talal Alameddine, 22, was charged with supplying the gun that 15-year-old Farhad Jabar used to shoot dead NSW Police accountant Curtis Cheng in Parramatta.
Fairfax Media approached Mr Haouchar for comment.
