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 dragged into its 15th hour and second day, 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.
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."
In a show of solidarity, many Australians offered on Twitter to
accompany people dressed in Muslim clothes who were afraid of a
backlash from the cafe siege. The hashtag #IllRideWithYou was used
more than 90,000 times by late Monday evening.
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 continue for some
time.
"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."
(Yahoo News)
