Australian police locked down the centre of the country's biggest city on Monday after an armed man walked into a busy downtown Sydney cafe, took hostages and forced them to display an Islamic flag, igniting fears of a jihadist attack.
Published : 15 Dec 2014, 02:27 PM
Police said they knew of one armedassailant involved in the incident at the Lindt chocolate cafe in the heart ofSydney's financial district, but there could be more.
Police, including paramilitary officers,cordoned off several blocks around the cafe as negotiators tried to defuse oneof the biggest security scares in Australia for decades. Snipers and a SWATteam took up positions around the cafe and police helicopters flew overhead. Atleast five hostages have been released or escaped since the mid-morning siegebegan, with terrified cafe workers and customers seen running into the arms ofparamilitary police.
About 15 hostages could still be seeninside the cafe, said Chris Reason, a reporter at Channel Seven, whose officeis opposite the cafe.
"From inside Martin Place newsroomwe can see gunman is rotating hostages, forcing them to stand against windows,sometimes 2 hours at a time," Reason said on Twitter.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who haswarned of militant plans to strike Australian targets, said there wereindications the hostage-taking was politically motivated.
"This is a very disturbingincident. I can understand the concerns and anxieties of the Australianpeople," Abbott told reporters in Canberra.
Australia, a staunch ally of the UnitedStates and its escalating action against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq,is on high alert for attacks by home-grown militants returning from fighting inthe Middle East.
"We have moved to a footing thatwould be consistent with a terrorist event," Andrew Scipione, policecommissioner for the state of New South Wales, told reporters, declining tocomment on a possible motive, the number of assailants or hostages.
News footage showed hostages holding upa black and white flag displaying the Shahada - a testament to the faith ofMuslims. The flag has been popular among Sunni Islamist militant groups such asIslamic State and al Qaeda.
The incident forced the evacuation ofnearby buildings and sent shockwaves around a country where many people wereturning their attention to the Christmas holiday following earlier securityscares.
In September, anti-terrorism police saidthey had thwarted an imminent threat to behead a random member of the publicand days later, a teenager in the city of Melbourne was shot dead afterattacking two anti-terrorism officers with a knife.
The siege cafe is in Martin Place, apedestrian strip popular with workers on a lunch break, which was revealed as apotential location for the thwarted beheading.
"We're possibly looking at a lonewolf who has sympathies to global jihad or someone with mental health issues insearch of a cause," said Adam Dolnik, a professor at the University ofWollongong who has trained Sydney police in hostage negotiations. "This isall about attention."
"Prettyweird"
Scores of armed police surrounded thecafe after the siege began around 9:45 a.m. (1745 ET on Sunday). The area ishome to the Reserve Bank of Australia, commercial banks and close to the NewSouth Wales state parliament.
"I walked up to the door and theneveryone was sitting down and the door's locked which is pretty weird becauseit's never locked and there was one guy walking around with a hat and abeard," a man who identified himself as Bruno, a worker at the cafe, toldthe Australian Broadcasting Corp, referring to the suspected assailant. He saidhe then turned away.
Grainy images of the suspected assailantshowed what appeared to be a middle-aged man wearing a headband and a whiteshirt.
The Reserve Bank of Australia said staffhad been locked down inside the building and were all safe.
The nearby US consulate was alsoevacuated, according to an embassy spokeswoman, along with the Sydney OperaHouse. Tourists were being let back into the world-famous venue by earlyafternoon but performances on Monday and Tuesday were cancelled.
India's parliamentary affairs ministersaid an Indian IT professional may be among the hostages.
"Whatever steps need to be taken,are being taken. We don't want to discuss it because there is some informationthat one of our Indian IT professionals also is there," Venkaiah Naidutold reporters.
Banksand shops close
In the biggest security operation inSydney since a bombing at the Hilton Hotel killed two people in 1978, majorbanks closed their offices in the central business district and people weretold to avoid the area. As night fell, large parts of the central city were allbut deserted.
Muslim leaders urged calm, with theAustralian National Imams Council condemning "this criminal actunequivocally" in a joint statement with the Grand Mufti of Australia. Aninter-faith prayer meeting at one of Sydney's grand mosques passed offpeacefully despite threats of protests from far-right groups.
Currency market traders said the hostagenews may have contributed to a dip in the Australian dollar, which was alreadyunder pressure from global risk aversion as oil prices fell anew.
Several media outlets reported they hadbeen contacted by hostages passing on claims and demands from the gunman,including the possible presence of explosives in the building and elsewhere inthe city.
Police said they were aware of mediareports but said the "situation is contained in one area".
Concerns about an attack in Australia byIslamists have been growing for more than a year, with the security agencyraising its national terrorism public alert to "high" in September.
That month, a spokesman for the IslamicState urged supporters in Western nations, including Australia, to attackcivilians or military personnel at home.