Diners held hostage in Sydney terrorist siege
Dozens of people in a Sydney city centre café are being held hostage by a terrorist armed with a gun.
The area surrounding the Lindt café in Sydney’s Martin Place has been evacuated while police negotiators talk to the gunman who forced hostages to hold a black Islamic flag up at the window.
Public buildings have been locked down and transport and roads across Sydney have been affected.
Five people have already escaped through a fire exit – three men and then two female employees.
Witnesses had described how a man wearing a headband covered in Arabic entered the cafe with a gun in a blue bag.
Hostages were later seen holding up the Shahada flag belonging to the extremist group Jabhat al-Nusra, which is fighting the Assad government in Syria.
Lindt Australia CEO Steve Loane estimated there are up to 50 people being held inside.
Police believe there are less than 30 hostages in the cafe.
The Foreign Office said: "On 15 December one or more armed people took an undisclosed number of hostages at Lindt Chocolate Cafe in Martin Place in Sydney’s city centre.
"New South Wales and Australian Federal Police are handling the incident. British nationals should avoid the area near Martin Place until further notice."
The siege is currently in its 10th hour.
Diane
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