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.
Witness who claims to have seen armed hostage -
taker inside besieged Sydney cafe, talks to local
media
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.
"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 . "
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 the New South
Wales Police Force not to report the demands.
Andrew Scipione, New South Wales (NSW ) 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 10 th hour, Catherine
Burn, NSW police deputy commissioner , 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 hostage -taker could be seen pacing back and
forth past the cafe' s four windows.
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.
Deputy Commissioner Burn: “ Our approach is to
resolve the situation as peacefully as possible .
The priority is the safety of all involved . ”
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 .
Two weeks later, a known suspect was shot dead
by police in Melbourne after he tried to attack the
police officers with a knife.
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 , which operates the Sydney cafe
under siege , 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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