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Muslim bride touches the heart of Aussies after laying her wedding bouquet at cafe siege shrine

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Newlywed Manal Kassem arrived at the memorial with her husband, Mahmod Homaisi, to place her wedding bouquet with the tens of thousands of other floral tributes in the square

Newlywed Manal Kassem arrived at the memorial with her husband, Mahmod Homaisi, to place her wedding bouquet with the tens of thousands of other floral tributes in the square

by Heather McNab, Daily Mail

Sydney: As the memorial to the victims of the Sydney siege continues to grow, a Muslim bride has made a pilgrimage on her wedding day to lay flowers at Martin Place.

Adorned in a white wedding dress, which included a traditional white hijab and veil, newlywed Manal Kassem arrived at the memorial with her husband, Mahmod Homaisi, to place her wedding bouquet among the tens of thousands of other floral tributes in the square.

The 23-year-old bride had planned for her wedding photos to be taken in the city, but had been hesitant to continue after the tragic events of Tuesday morning which claimed the lives of three people.

‘She was going to cancel [the photoshoot] because she didn’t want to be judged…celebrating her wedding in a scarf while people were terrorised,’ said the couple’s wedding planner Dina Kheir.

‘But she made is a priority to visit the memorial site as the first pit stop,’ Ms Kheir said.

A witness said that as the couple approached, clad in their wedding gear, the crowd that had gathered to lay their own floral tributes stared in surprise.

When Ms Kassem, from Punchbowl, placed her bouquet of white roses held together with ribbon at the memorial, the crowd erupted in applause.

‘She did it out of respect for her country, that will one day be the country of her children and grandchildren,’ said Ms Kheir.

Iran warned Australia about Sydney attacker

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A policeman lays a floral tribute with thousands of others near the cafe where hostages were held for over 16 hours, in central Sydney, Dec. 16, 2014. (photo by REUTERS/David Gray)

A policeman lays a floral tribute with thousands of others near the cafe where hostages were held for over 16 hours, in central Sydney, Dec. 16, 2014. (photo by REUTERS/David Gray)

by Arash Karami, Al Monitor

Man Haron Monis, the gunman behind the 16-hour hostage standoff in Sydney, Australia, resulting in the deaths of two individuals and himself, was well known to Iranian authorities. The self-styled “sheikh,” who left Iran for Australia in 1996, had abused Australia’s political system to gain immunity from prosecution in Iran, where he was a wanted man.

According to Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham, “The psychological history and condition of this individual, who for more than two decades was a refugee in Australia, was repeatedly presented to Australian officials.”

Afkham did not elaborate, but Haron Monis’ history while in Australia paints a clear picture of him as unstable and a charlatan posing as a religious man.

Before changing his name, Haron Monis was Mohammad Hassan Manteghi. As early as 2008, the Australian Shiite community warned federal agents he was an imposter posing as a Shiite ayatollah (in fact, they said there were no ayatollahs in Australia at the time) and no one had ever heard of the two names he was using, “Ayatollah Borujerdi” and “Sheikh Haron.” He was, however, in the news at the time for harassing family members of soldiers who died fighting in Afghanistan.

Before his conversion to Sunnism to take up the cause of the Islamic State group, Haron Monis had faced a number of legal battles, including numerous charges of sexual assault — under the guise of religious “healer” — and accessory to the murder of his ex-wife in Australia.

Fars News Agency reported that Iran had requested via Interpol that Haron Monis be extradited in 1996 for “heavy financial fraud,” but that the request was denied when Haron Monis claimed that he would be persecuted in Iran for his “liberal” views. He was eventually granted political asylum in Australia.

A search of Interpol did not bring up anyone by the various names he used, but foreign-based Persian-language Manoto reported that Haron Monis was wanted in a $200,000 fraud case. Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) also claimed that Haron Monis had been wanted by Iran. Interestingly, while most Western media outlets published images of Haron Monis dressed in traditional Shiite clerical garb, IRNA’s choice shows a man in sunglasses wearing a white jacket over a black shirt with white stripes and white pants.

Australian media outlets had long bought into Haron Monis’ branding of himself as “liberal.” In January 2001, Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Radio National program profiled Haron Monis, before his name change: “While in Sydney, we talk to Ayatollah Manteghi Borujerdi, an Iranian cleric espousing a liberal brand of Islam — dangerously liberal, as his views have led to his wife and two daughters being held hostage in Iran.”

The Fars article, headlined, “The con artist who was not returned to Iran under the excuse of ‘political asylum,’” also criticized the Western media for emphasizing his Iranian nationality.

Sydney siege ends after 16 hrs, three dead

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Sydney siege

Sydney: Heavily armed police officers ended a hostage crisis at the Lindt Chocolate Cafe here around 2:45 am local time on Tuesday, storming its premises where an armed man — said to be a self-proclaimed Sheik — held employees and customers, including two Indians, captive for more than 16 hours.

The two Indians, Vishwakant Ankireddy and Pushpendra Ghosh, both employees of Infosys, are safe.

The number of casualties was not immediately clear, but agencies reported that three people were dead, including the gunman.

“Sydney siege is over. More details to follow,” the New South Wales Police said in a tweet.

Earlier, the police said that the hostage-taker was Man Haron Monis, an Iranian-born man in his 50s with a criminal record, who called himself Sheik Haron.

Monis was carrying a black flag with white Arabic script similar to those used by Islamic militants on other continents, and the flag was later displayed in the window of the cafe.

Five people, including two cafe employees, had fled by 7 pm local time, but it was not clear whether the assailant had allowed them to leave or they had escaped. Helicopters hovered over the city, the train network was temporarily stopped and buildings, including the nearby Sydney Opera House, were shut down.

According to “The Age”, Monis was out on bail in two separate criminal cases. He was charged in November 2013 for murdering his ex-wife, Noleen Hayson Pal, who was stabbed and set on fire in an apartment in Werrington.

In April 2014, Monis was charged for sexual assault. The police said that Monis held himself out as a spiritual healer and conducted business on Station Street, Wentworthville. A website apparently associated with Monis includes condemnation of the US and Australia for their military actions against Islamic militants in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A Muslim community leader in Sydney, Dr Jamal Rifi, said in a televised interview: “Everything he stands for is wrong. It has nothing to do with Islam.”

Prime Minister Tony Abbott, before Monis was publicly identified, referred to him as “an armed person claiming political motivation.” The US Consulate General in Sydney, about a block from the cafe, and the Consulate General of India in Sydney, barely 400 metres from the cafe, were evacuated.

An Islamic State spokesman, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, issued a statement in September asking Muslims in Australia to carry out attacks. On September 12, Abbott raised Australia’s terrorism alert level to high from medium. He gave the police broader powers to arrest terror suspects and tightened restrictions on the media’s reporting on national security matters. Two weeks later, police fatally shot a man who attacked them with a knife.

(Agencies)

Indian consulate in Sydney evacuated

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SYDNEY CAFE SIEGE

New Delhi: The Indian consulate in Australia’s Sydney city has been evacuated following a hostage taking at a nearby cafe, an official said.

Vinod Bahade, deputy consul general in Sydney, told IANS that though there was no confirmation regarding the nationality of the hostages, the officials were in constant touch with the security agencies.

The consulate is barely 400 metres from the cafe where a gunman took over three dozen people hostage.

“Minutes after we got to know that some people at a nearby cafe have been taken hostage by a gunman, the Indian consulate was evacuated. However, we have not shut it and the work will resume once the problem is solved,” Bahade told IANS over phone from Sydney.

The hostage-taking took place in Sydney’s bustling central business district.

Bahade said they have been constantly getting updates from the Australian authorities and trying to know if any Indian was among the hostages.

Surinder Datta, deputy high commissioner at the Indian High Commission at Canberra, told IANS that the incident is being constantly being monitored.

“We are taking reports from the Indian consulate in Sydney. This is a very critical issue and we do not want to take any decision in hurry,” he told IANS over phone from Canberra.

(IANS)

Indian may be among Sydney hostages: minister

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Armed police run toward a cafe in the central business district of Sydney on December 15, 2014. SAEED KHAN / AFP / GETTY IMAGES

Armed police run toward a cafe in the central business district of Sydney on December 15, 2014. SAEED KHAN / AFP / GETTY IMAGES

New Delhi: An Indian origin IT professional may be among the hostages held by a gunman in a cafe in Australia, according to Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu who later said the reports were unconfirmed.

“We don’t want to discuss it because there is some information that one of our IT persons is also there. So the External Affairs Ministry is keeping in touch with concerned people there– both our embassy as well as our counterpart also,” Naidu told reporters outside Parliament House.

Later, Naidu added that there were no confirmed reports and it was only preliminary information.

“There is some initial information that some people were taken hostage in Sydney by some person.

What is the purpose, what is the motive, (it is) not known and our External Affairs Ministry is keeping in touch with our embassy there in Australia.

“So far information says that people who were held hostages are safe, no harm is done to them.

All these information here and there– nothing has been confirmed about any citizens of our country is in that or not. It is a sensitive matter. I request all people to show restraint till the issue is resolved,” he said.

The Minister said whatever steps need to be taken are being taken.

Several people were taken hostage at a popular cafe in the heart of Sydney city in south-east Australia by one gunman this morning, leading to evacuation of important buildings, including the Indian consulate which is located 300-400 metres from the cafe. An Islamic flag was also reportedly seen hanging from the window of the cafe.

The Indian Consulate in Sydney was evacuated in view of the hostage situation in a cafe near its premises and all the staff members are safe, the External Affairs Ministry today said.

In Sydney, Consul General Sunjay Sudhir said that due to security concerns “we locked down our office at 12:00 PM and asked all our officers to go to places of safety”.

He said that the Central Business District (CBD) where the cafe is located is the area where many Indian establishments including the SBI, Bank of Baroda and Indian tourism office are located.

“We are in touch with the security agencies and have asked them specifically if any Indians were present inside the cafe…they have not told us about the nationality,” Sudhir said.

(PTI)

Hostages held in Sydney cafe siege

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Five people emerge from Lindt Cafe in Australian city’s financial district amid negotiations with hostage-taker.

Sydney cafe siege

by Al Jazeera

Five people have escaped from a cafe where a man has an unknown number of hostages in the heart of Sydney’s financial and shopping district .

Two people inside the cafe were earlier seen holding up a flag with an Islamic declaration of faith that has often been used by armed groups.

The first three people ran out of the Lindt Chocolat Cafe in Sydney’s Central Building District six hours into Monday’s hostage crisis, and two women sprinted from a fire exit into the arms of waiting police shortly afterwards.

Both women were wearing aprons with the Lindt chocolate logo, indicating they were cafe employees.

It was not clear exactly how many people remained inside the cafe at Martin Place, a plaza that is packed with holiday shoppers this time of year.

The hostage-taker is reported to have conveyed some demands when an Australian media network interviewed some of the hostages over phone.

Some media networks have announced that they are complying with a request from New South Wales Police not to report the demands.

Andrew Scipione, New South Wales Police commissioner, said police did not know the hostage taker’s motivation.

“We have not yet confirmed it is a terrorism-related event,” he said.

“We’re dealing with a hostage situation with an armed offender.”

As the drama dragged into its 10th hour, NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn said negotiators were talking with the hostage-taker.

Officials had no information to suggest anyone had been harmed, although a hospital said it was treating a man in satisfactory condition.

Pacing back and forth

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.

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

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

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, agonising time for her surely having to stand on her feet for that long.

“Just two hours ago when we saw that rush of escapees, we could see from up here in this vantage point the gunman got extremely agitated as he realised those five had got out. He started screaming orders at the people, the hostages who remain behind.”

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.

Hundreds of police flooded into the area, 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.

“This is a very disturbing incident,” Tony Abbott, Australia’s prime minister, said.

“It is profoundly shocking that innocent people should be held hostage by an armed person claiming political motivation.”

Terror threat warning

The Australian government raised the terror warning level in September in response to the domestic threat posed by supporters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) 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 ISIL leader in Syria to behead a random person in downtown Sydney.

ISIL, which now holds a third of Syria and Iraq, has threatened Australia in the past.

In September, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, an ISIL spokesperson, issued an audio message urging “lone wolf” attacks abroad, specifically mentioning Australia.

Lindt Australia posted a message on its Facebook page on Monday 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.

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