Two hostages dead in Sydney

News.com.au reports:

Police confirmed three people have died and four others were injured during the police operation that brought the siege at Lindt cafe to an end just after 2am today after more than 16 hours.

NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione confirmed two hostages and a lone gunman were killed and a total of 17 hostages were held throughout the siege.

Terrible that two innocent lives were lost, but am relieved that it wasn’t much higher. The Police did the best they could in a very difficult situation.

There was no word on the fate of the gunman, earlier identified as 50-year-old self-styled sheik Man Haron Monis.

Monis was known to police and as a self-styled preacher of Islamic State on bail for accessory to murder, as the gunman who was holding 15 terrified hostages in Sydney’s Lindt cafe.

On bail!

The 49-year-old, originally from Iran who lived in southwest Sydney, had previously sent offensive letters to the families of dead Australian soldiers, calling them ‘murderers’, The Daily Telegraph says.

He had a sawn-off shotgun and was a fringe Islamist, The Australian and Sky News reports.

I think countries such as Australia, and NZ, need to have much more stringent immigration criteria – I don’t mean banning people on the basis of their religion, but asking prospective migrants a detailed set of questions to ascertain if they hold extreme views, and would be happy living in a secular country.

Stuff reports:

Prime Minister John Key says it would naive to think that an attack similar to the Sydney siege couldn’t happen in New Zealand.

Three people, including the gunman, are dead after the Martin Pl siege ended in a volley of gunfire shortly after 2am local time this morning (4am NZT).

“I think you have to say yes,” Key said. “There is always that risk, there’s that risk everywhere in the world. There’s the risk that there’s a person who is somehow attracted to the teachings and kinds of messages and propaganda that these people are peddling.” …

Key said the events in Sydney only showed how dangerous IS was, even if it wasn’t directly involved. 

“As I said, they’re extremely well-resourced, we believe they’re the most highly-resourced terrorist group in the world. 

“They’re using the internet in a way that’s never been seen before, to build this outreach capacity and to target the very sort of people that we’ve seen in Australia overnight; to tap into people and to use them as a domestic terror threat type of organisation,” he said. 

“I don’t think we should stop the things that we’re doing. I think we should continue to standup to ISIS and actually, it just demonstrates how dangerous they are.” 

The gunman at the centre of the Sydney siege is among a number of homegrown terrorists being targeted by IS, Key said.

The attack was an act of “cowardice”, and New Zealand’s hearts went out to all Australians, he said.

“It’s a terrible tragedy isn’t it? Our hearts and thoughts go out not only to the families of the victims and the hostages, but actually to all Australians. 

“Australia’s our nearest neighbour, they’re our greatest mates, we consider ourselves to be very similar in the way we go about our lives. 

“I think Australia will be really hurting, and indeed the world is as we see some people lose their lives in an utter act of cowardice, and so close to Christmas,” Key said on Firstline.