Hostages held in Lindt cafe in Australia (video)
Police in Australia have chained the central square in Sydney where a gunman is holding staff and customers hostage at a café.
The man is said to have taken hostage about 20 people at the Lindt cafe in the central business district of the city. Five people have been seen running from the building. It is not clear how many hostages remain inside. Police say they have made contact with the gunman. The terrorist also forced crying women to hold a black Islamic flag up to the window, which reads in the Arabic language, “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger.” This is the basic statement of belief in Islam.
This statement is used by different Islamic groups in Syria and Iraq. Although the gunman has not posed his demands yet, Australian authorities are confident that the siege is politically motivated.
