Three Dead, Including Gunman, in Sydney Siege

Local Editor

Amid a barrage of gunfire, police stormed a cafe in the heart of Sydney early Tuesday to end a 16-hour hostage siege by an Iranian-born gunman.

Police said three people were killed - the gunman and two of the hostages - and four others were wounded. Police raided the Lindt Chocolat Cafe after they heard a number of gunshots from inside, said New South Wales state police Commissioner Andrew Scipione.

Tehran condemned the deadly hostage-taking, branding it an act against Islam.
"Undertaking such inhuman acts and provoking fear and panic in the name of merciful Islam is not in any way justifiable," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said, according to IRNA news agency.

The gunman was identified as Man Haron Monis, who once was prosecuted for sending offensive letters to families of Australian troops killed in Afghanistan.
Scipione wouldn't say whether the two hostages who were killed - a 34-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman - were caught in crossfire, or shot by the gunman.

Among the four wounded was a police officer shot in the face. "Until we were involved in this emergency action, we believe that no one had been injured. That changed. We changed our tactic," he said, adding that there had been a total of 17 hostages taken in the cafe when the siege began.

The standoff ended when a loud bang was heard from the cafe and five people ran out. Shortly after, police swooped in, amid heavy gunfire, shouts and flashes. A police bomb disposal robot also was sent into the building, but no explosives were found. Local media identified the gunman as 50-year-old Monis, and a police official confirmed his identity.

The siege began around 9:45 am in Martin Place, a plaza in Sydney's financial and shopping district that is packed with holiday shoppers this time of year.
Hundreds of police blanketed the city as streets were closed and offices evacuated. The public was told to stay away from Martin Place.
Throughout the day, several people were seen with their arms in the air and hands pressed against the window of the cafe, with two people holding up a black flag.

Channel 10 news said it received a video in which a hostage in 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.
A number of Australian Muslim groups condemned the hostage taking in a joint statement and said the flag's inscription was a "testimony of faith that has been misappropriated by misguided individuals."

The gunman could be seen pacing back and forth past the cafe's windows.
"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."

Australia's government raised the country's terror warning level in September in response to the domestic threat posed by supporters of "ISIL".
Terrorism expert Charles Knight said the situation appeared to be that of a "lone wolf" making his own demands, rather than an attack orchestrated by a foreign extremist group.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team