This report is from yesterday, but apparently this siege is still active ~ ~ Sooz

Five flee as hostages held in Sydney cafe, Islamic flag held up
Agence France-Presse | 14 Dec 2014 at 21:34 ET

Five people fled a central Sydney cafe Monday where a gunman is holding terrified hostages after displaying an Islamic flag at the window, triggering a lockdown in an area home to government and corporate headquarters.

A square in the heart of the Australian city was evacuated as hundreds of armed police surrounded the Lindt chocolate cafe, where a flag — black with white Arabic writing — was held to a window by customers.

It appears to be the shahada, or profession of faith in Islam, and says: “There is no god but Allah; Mohammed is the Messenger of Allah.”

Some six hours into the siege, three men emerged from the popular cafe and ran for their lives, two from the front door and one from an emergency exit. Around an hour later two women also fled.

It was not clear if they escaped or were released.

New South Wales state deputy police commissioner Catherine Burn said negotiators “have had contact and continue to have contact” with the armed person holding the hostages, but they did not know the motivation for the siege.

“We do not have information to suggest that anyone is harmed at this stage,” she said, adding that the number of hostages “is not as high as 30″ as some reports had suggested.

Australia has been on high alert after the government raised concerns that citizens who have fought alongside jihadists in Iraq and Syria could return home radicalized and capable of carrying out attacks.

State police commissioner Andrew Scipione said “we have not yet confirmed this is a terrorism-related event,” despite Prime Minister Tony Abbott convening a national security meeting to deal with the “disturbing” development.

“We don’t yet know the motivation of the perpetrator, we don’t know whether this is politically motivated, although obviously there are some indications that it could be,” Abbott said, while urging people to get on with their daily lives.

The White House said U.S. President Barack Obama had been briefed about the crisis.

Patrick Byrne, a producer at Channel Seven whose newsroom is opposite the cafe, said staff at the television station watched the situation unfold.

“We raced to the window and saw the shocking and chilling sight of people putting their hands up against the panes of glass at the cafe,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“This was just extraordinary.”

National security response

The scene of the drama, Martin Place, is Sydney’s financial center and houses several prominent buildings, including the New South Wales parliament, the U.S. consulate, the country’s central bank and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Many shops in the area opted to close early due to the scare, with only a trickle of people walking along usually bustling streets.

At the nearby Sydney Opera House, where police had swept the area earlier Monday, evening performances were cancelled.

“It’s sad to think this is my home and that it could happen anywhere,” said onlooker Rebecca Courtney.

The cafe incident came just minutes before police announced a man had been arrested in Sydney on alleged terrorism offences.

They said the 25-year-old was seized as part of “continuing investigations into the planning of a terrorist attack on Australian soil and the facilitation of travel of Australian citizens to Syria to engage in armed combat”.

Scipione said he did not believe the matters were related.

The government in September raised its terror threat level and police conducted large-scale counter-terror raids across the country. Only two people were charged even though 800 officers were involved in the operation.

More than 70 Australians are believed to be fighting for Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria. At least 20 have died and there are growing concerns about youths becoming radicalised and mounting attacks at home.

Journalist Chris Kenny, who was in the Lindt cafe just before the siege began, said he understood the automatic glass sliding doors had been disabled.

He added that a woman who tried to get in as he was leaving saw someone with a weapon.

“She mentioned it being taken out of a blue bag and people were straight away asked to put up their hands,” he told the newspaper he works for, The Australian.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/12/breaking-hostages-held-in-sydney-cafe-as-gunmen-force-patrons-to-hold-islamic-flag-in-window/

Here's more, equally disturbing ~ Sooz

5 People Escape From Sydney Cafe In Hostage Crisis
By KRISTEN GELINEAU Published December 15, 2014, 6:29 AM EST

SYDNEY (AP) — Five people escaped from a Sydney cafe where a gunman took an unknown number of hostages during Monday morning rush hour. Two people inside the cafe earlier held up a flag with an Islamic declaration of faith that has often been used by extremists, raising fears that a terrorist incident was playing out in the heart of Australia's biggest city.

The first three people ran out of the Lindt Chocolat Cafe in downtown Sydney six hours into the hostage crisis, and two women sprinted from a fire exit into the arms of waiting police shortly afterward. Both women were wearing aprons with the Lindt chocolate logo, indicating they were cafe employees.

As the siege entered its 12th hour Monday night, basic questions remained unanswered. Police refused to say how many hostages were inside the cafe, what they believed the gunman's motives might be, whether he had made any demands or whether the hostages who fled the cafe escaped or were released.

"I would like to give you as much as I can but right now that is as much as I can," New South Wales state police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said. "First and foremost, we have to make sure we do nothing that could in any way jeopardize those still in the building."

Police were negotiating with the gunman and said they had no information to suggest anyone had been hurt. Scipione said they had not confirmed whether the siege was related to terrorism.

"Our only goal tonight and for as long as this takes is to get those people that are currently caught in that building out of there safely," he said.

Channel 10 news said it received a video in which a hostage inside the cafe had relayed the gunman's demands. The station said police requested they not broadcast it, and Scipione separately asked all media that might be contacted by the gunman to urge him instead to talk to police.

The drama began around 9:45 a.m. in Martin Place, a plaza in the heart of the city's financial and shopping district that is packed with holiday shoppers this time of year. Many of those inside the cafe would have been taken hostage as they stopped in for their morning coffees.

Television video shot through the cafe's windows showed several people with their arms in the air and hands pressed against the glass, and two people holding up a black flag with the Shahada, or Islamic declaration of faith, written on it.

The Shahada translates as "There is no god but God and Muhammad is his messenger." It is considered the first of Islam's five pillars of faith, and is similar to the Lord's Prayer in Christianity. It is pervasive throughout Islamic culture, including the green flag of Saudi Arabia. Jihadis have used the Shahada in their own black flag.

Seven Network television news staff watched the gunman and hostages for hours from a fourth floor window of their Sydney offices, opposite the cafe.

The gunman could be seen pacing back and forth past the cafe's windows. Reporter Chris Reason said the man carried what appeared to be a pump-action shotgun, was unshaven and wore a white shirt and a black cap.

Earlier in the day, network staff counted about 15 different faces among hostages forced up against the windows.

"The gunman seems to be sort of rotating these people through these positions on the windows with their hands and faces up against the glass," Reason said in a report from the vantage point. "One woman we've counted was there for at least two hours — an extraordinary, agonizing time for her surely having to stand on her feet for that long."

"When we saw that rush of escapees, we could see from up here in this vantage point the gunman got extremely agitated as he realized those five had got out. He started screaming orders at the people, the hostages who remain behind," he added.

Reason later reported that staff brought plates of food from a kitchen at the rear of the cafe and the hostages were fed.

As night set in, the lights inside the cafe were switched off. Armed police guarding the area outside fitted their helmets with green-glowing night goggles.

St. Vincent's hospital spokesman David Faktor said a male hostage was in satisfactory condition in the hospital's emergency department. He was the only one of the freed hostages to be taken to a hospital, and Scipione said he was being treated for a pre-existing condition.

Hundreds of police blanketed the city, streets were closed and offices evacuated. The public was told to stay away from Martin Place, site of the state premier's office, the Reserve Bank of Australia, and the headquarters of two of the nation's largest banks. The state parliament house is a few blocks away.

Workers in the cordoned-off area were asked to stay home Tuesday, indicating police believe the hostage drama could stretch into the next day.

"This is a very disturbing incident," Prime Minister Tony Abbott said. "It is profoundly shocking that innocent people should be held hostage by an armed person claiming political motivation."

Lindt Australia posted a message on its Facebook page thanking the public for its support.

"We are deeply concerned over this serious incident and our thoughts and prayers are with the staff and customers involved and all their friends and families," the company wrote.

Infosys, India's second-largest IT services provider, confirmed that one of its employees was among the hostages. The staffer's family has been informed, it said.

Australia's government raised the country's terror warning level in September in response to the domestic threat posed by supporters of the Islamic State group. Counterterror law enforcement teams later conducted dozens of raids and made several arrests in Australia's three largest cities — Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. One man arrested during a series of raids in Sydney was charged with conspiring with an Islamic State leader in Syria to behead a random person in downtown Sydney.

The Islamic State group, which now holds a third of Syria and Iraq, has threatened Australia in the past. In September, Islamic State group spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani issued an audio message urging so-called "lone wolf" attacks abroad, specifically mentioning Australia. Al-Adnani told Muslims to kill all "disbelievers," whether they be civilians or soldiers.

One terrorism expert said the situation appeared to be that of a "lone wolf" making his own demands, rather than an attack orchestrated by a foreign jihadist group.

"There haven't been statements from overseas linking this to extremist groups outside the country — that is quite positive," said Charles Knight, lecturer in the Department of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism at Australia's Macquarie University. "The individual or individuals involved didn't kill early, which is part of the pattern of some recent international attacks. ... It seems to be shifting more into the model of a traditional hostage situation, rather than the sort of brutal attacks we've seen overseas."

Associated Press writers Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Nick Perry in Wellington, New Zealand, Jocelyn Gecker in Bangkok, Shawn Pogatchnik in Dublin and Maamoun Youssef in Cairo contributed to this report.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/5-people-escape-sydney-hostage-crisis

At least for now, the siege is over ~ but I hope more details will be forthcoming ~ Sooz

Police say Sydney cafe hostage situation over
Associated Press | Associated Press | KRISTEN GELINEAU, Associated Press | 9 mins ago

SYDNEY (AP) — Police say a hostage situation in Sydney is over after a swarm of heavily armed police stormed a downtown cafe where a gunman had been holding an unknown number of people.

A police spokesman confirmed "the operation is over" early Tuesday but would not release any further details.

Police swooped into the Lindt Chocolat Cafe shortly after five or six hostages were seen running out of the building.

After the police moved in, one weeping woman was helped out by the officers and at least two other people were wheeled out on stretchers.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/police-storm-sydney-cafe-where-hostages-held/ar-BBgPxJc

Seems the latest trend among nutters is martyrdom.

Shut like this isn't going to help Islam.

I don't care if the "nutters" take themselves out in their quest for "martyrdom" ~ but I DO care when they want to take others/innocents out with them ~

Sooz

Will follow with post about this man..

Australian police say three dead, four hurt in Sydney siege

Three people are dead after a hostage drama in a Sydney cafe ended in heavy gunfire as security forces stormed the building, Australian police said on Tuesday.

Local media reports said the hostage-taker was among those killed.

Heavy gunfire and blasts from stun grenades filled the air shortly after 2 a.m. local time (10.00 a.m. ET on Monday) at the Lindt cafe in central Sydney, bringing to an end a siege that had lasted more than 16 hours.

A 50-year-old man, a 38-year-old woman and a 34-year-old man had died, New South Wales police said. Two people were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries, while a police officer was being treated after being hit in the face with gunshot pellets. A woman was being treated for a gunshot wound to the shoulder, police added.

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/aus ... ailsignout

I may be wrong, but to me he sounds like a delusional, homicidal psychopath who hi-jacked the religion to commit murders and molest people. He picked the most hated religion on the planet (for now) because of it's connection to terrorism. WHY is he not in prison?? All emphasis mine.

Sydney siege gunman identified as Man Haron Monis

The man who continues to hold more than a dozen people hostage, placing Sydney's CBD into lockdown is no stranger to the NSW police or the judiciary.

Self-described cleric, Man Haron Monis, 50, first came to attention of police when he penned poisonous letters to the family of dead Australian soldiers.

Last year he was charged with being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife and mother of two.

And most recently, he was charged with more than 50 allegations of indecent and sexual assault relating to time allegedly spent as a self-proclaimed "spiritual healer" who dealt with black magic at a premises in western Sydney more than a decade ago.

Monis, who has also gone by the names of Sheikh Haron and Mohammad Hassan Manteghi, was born in Iran and most recently has been living at Bexley North in Sydney's south.

He recently likened himself on his own webpage to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, claiming the most recent charges against him have been laid for "political reasons".

His website also carries a quote, posted earlier this month stating: "I used to be a Rafidi, but not any more. Now I am a Muslim, Alhamdu Lillah".

It has been Monis on-going legal battle for his conviction for penning those poisoned letters to the families of dead Australian soldiers between 2007 and 2009 that has consumed him.

It is understood Monday's incident followed an unsuccessful, last-ditch attempted in the High Court on Friday to have the charges overturned.

Monis was sentenced to 300 hours of community service and placed on a two year good behaviour bond for the "offensive and deplorable letters" sent with the assistance of his girlfriend Amirah Droudis.

They were sent to the families of Private Luke Worsley and Lance Corporal Jason Marks, who were killed in Afghanistan in 2007 and 2008.

He also sent a letter in 2009 to the family of the Austrade official Craig Senger, who was killed in the bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta in 2007.

Monis claimed the letters were his own version of a "flower basket" or "condolence card".

Bree Till, widow of Sergeant Brett Till, killed while defusing a bomb on March 12, 2009, said at the time of his conviction: "We sat reading these letters (which) made out to be something supportive but then the juxtaposition of this man accusing my husband of being a child-killer while dictating how I should raise my children. It was scary," she said.

He fought the validity of the charges all the way to the High Court arguing they were political and only sought to persuade the families to oppose Australia's military involvement in Afghanistan.

But when he lost that battle, and had to stand trial, he pleaded guilty to all 12 charges against him in August 2013.

But his problems with the law did not end there and Monis is currently on bail in relation two separate, serious cases.

He was charged in November 2013 with being an accessory before and after the fact to the murder of his ex-wife Noleen Hayson Pal.

Ms Pal was stabbed and set alight in a Werrington apartment block.

Droudis has been charged with the murder.

And then in April this year, Monis was charged by sex crimes squad detectives with the indecent and sexual assault of a woman in western Sydney in 2002.

Police allege that Monis was a self-proclaimed "spiritual healer" who operated out of premises on Station Street at Wentworthville.

News of his arrest prompted more victims to come forward and Monis was hit with an additional 40 charges in October.

It is alleged that Monis placed ads in local newspapers offering "spiritual consultation".

He claimed to be an expert in astrology, numerology, meditation and black magic.

Monis has posted online that the police charges are part of a witch hunt against him.

"Since the Australian government cannot tolerate Sheikh Haron's activity, is trying to damage his image by these false accusations, and also for putting pressure on him to stop his activity and keep him silent, but God willing Man Haron Monis will not stop his political activity against oppression," he writes in a description of himself on his website, sheikhharon.com
His former Facebook page, pulled down on Monday night as the siege continued had 14,725 "likes" when it was shut down.

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/syd ... ailsignout