Sydney cafe siege is over - several dead and wounded

[Anthea]

BBC News Australia

Live: Sydney cafe siege

Centre of Sydney loockdown

At least one gunman has taken several people hostage at a cafe in the Australian city of Sydney

Police have cordoned off a large area of Sydney's central business district

People inside the cafe have been seen holding up a black flag with Arabic writing at the window

Police are telling the public to avoid the area

Local media report that the Sydney Opera house was evacuated after a suspicious package was found there

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott describes the hostage incident as "deeply concerning"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-30474089

[Anthea]

Possible bomb in Sydney Opera House

30 customers and 10 staff held in the coffee shop

Definitely Muslim jihadist gunmen

[Anthea]

12 hours have past and the siege is still ongoing

No real information is know apart from the fact that 5 hostages have been released or escaped - the public have not been told which

The gunman/gunmen have made the hostages contact news media sites to pass on the gunmen's demands - but the police have banned the media from publishing any information given to them - I imagine the gunmen are becoming agitated by the lack of publicity and response

At least the gunmen will have no problems staying awake with all that coffee - possibly one of the reasons he chose a coffee shop - one of the weakest point of any siege situation is the need for food and drink to be delivered to the hostage takers and their victims - it seems to me that the gunmen have given some thought to their target

The worrying thing is that some weeks ago Sydney police discovered a plot by jihadists to publicly behead someone in that same part of the city - one can only hope that this is not connected to the original plot

Whatever the gunmen have in mind they are making certain that the entire world knows and is watching what is happening

[Anthea]

The Sydney cafe siege is over after armed police stormed the building amid the sound of gunfire. The police are believed to have launched their operation after at least five more hostages escaped from the cafe - more than 16 hours after the stand-off began. Armed police and medics are at the scene and several people have been taken away on stretchers.

"The decision as to when to go into an operation and use force is a fine balance and its about gain," Henderson Risk Limited CEO Duncan Bullivant told the BBC. "If time is going to give you the gain for a peaceful negotiation, you've got to negotiate. "But if the negotiations, or the people you're negotiating with, seem unstable or you're moving to a point where the people on the ground believe that there is a risk to the hostages then force has to be used".

Australian police say three people were killed and four injured in the siege.

The question is was it the police or the hostage taker who killed and wounded so many hostages?

[Anthea]

If I were in Sydney I would be afraid to go into a cafe in case a siege takes place and the police charge in shooting everyone