SYDNEY: A swarm of heavily armed police stormed a cafe in the heart of downtown Sydney late last night, ending a siege where a gunman had been holding an unknown number of people hostage for more than 16 hours.
A police spokesman confirmed "the operation is over,'' but would not release any further details about the fate of the gunman or his remaining captives.
After a flurry of loud bangs, police swooped into the Lindt Chocolat Cafe shortly after five or six hostages were seen running from 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.
The dramatic scene unfolded shortly after the gunman was identified by local media as Iranian-born Man Haron Monis, who is facing charges including sexual assault and accessory to murder in separate cases. A police official said "you wouldn't be wrong'' in identifying the 50-year-old Monis as the gunman. Under department rules, officials do not identify themselves unless speaking at a formal news conference.
Monis has long been on officials' radar. Last year, he was sentenced to 300 hours of community service for writing offensive letters to families of soldiers killed in Afghanistan. He was later charged with being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife. Earlier this year, he was charged with the sexual assault of a woman in 2002. He has been out on bail on the charges.
"This is a one-off random individual. It's not a concerted terrorism event or act. It's a damaged goods individual who's done something outrageous,'' his former lawyer, Manny Conditsis, told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
"His ideology is just so strong and so powerful that it clouds his vision for common sense and objectiveness,'' Conditsis said.
Throughout the day, several people were seen with their arms in the air and hands pressed against the window of the cafe, 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 yesterday 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 yesterday, 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.
The incident prompted Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to place security personnel on high alert in Thailand even though no Thai citizens are involved in the incident.
"I don't believe the incident will affect our country but we have to be on alert, particularly with regard to immigration. But I don't want to talk too much since this issue involves other countries," Gen Prayut said.
The Thai Consulate-General in Sydney yesterday posted messages on Facebook urging Thais to avoid venturing into central Sydney. Thai students currently studying in Sydney are safe, it said.