Martin Place Hostage Situation (5 Viewers)

[Rafy]

CHANNEL 7’s flagship studio in Martin Place may have been the original target of deranged terrorist Man Haron Monis. The Saturday Telegraph has learned Monis arrived at Martin Place early on Monday morning with the possible intention of taking hostages within the TV network’s studio during the live morning Sunrise broadcast. But it appears that, due to increased security at the studio following the Islamic State threat in September to behead someone in Martin Place, Monis instead rerouted his plot 50m to the Lindt Chocolate Cafe, where he staged his deadly 17- hour siege, which ended with the deaths of two innocent civilians. A high-placed government source claims police both the NSW State Police and the Australian Federal Police have not ruled out that Channel 7 may have been Monis’s main target.

The shocking revelation comes as recently released Channel 7 security footage shows Monis pacing outside the Martin Place studios known within the network as Sunrise Alley as early as 8.30am on the morning of the siege. "There are several things to suggest that (Monis) may have initially set his sights on Channel 7 during their live morning broadcast," a government source told The Saturday Telegraph. Monis had a very public and open resentment of the network. A damning 2009 report on Today Tonight, which dubbed him a "Fake Sheik", exposed his history of writing letters to the families of fallen soldiers.

The program led directly to High Court charges about letters to war widows, and Monis was placed on a two-year good behaviour bond for the offensive letters as was his co-accused and widow, 34-year-old Amirah Droudis, who pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting. Soon after that report aired Monis visited Seven’s Martin Place studios on at least two occasions to hand out pro-Islamic leaflets.

"He turned up a couple of times between 2009 and 2013 ... standing outside in his mufti robes in his chains, handing out pamphlets," the program’s reporter, David Richardson, said. The self-proclaimed Muslim cleric had been fighting the charges over the offensive letters for five years a battle which came to a head last Friday when the High Court refused to remove his case and dismissed his application. It’s understood Monis even wrote to former attorney-general Philip Ruddock claiming Seven’s Sunrise program had encouraged terrorists.

He demanded the director of public prosecutions launch criminal proceedings against the network. Monis wrote to the Australian Communications and Media Authority claiming that a segment that discussed wrongly accused terrorist suspect

Mohammed Haneef was harmful to Muslims. "The material ... has insulted Muslims in general and Muslim doctors in particular," Monis wrote. "Also it will cause some other serious problems not only for Muslim doctors but also for the whole Australian society."

ACMA investigated the complaint and found no breach had occurred. Contacted about Monis’s possible intentions yesterday, Channel 7 spokesman Simon Francis said simply: "We’ll demur on commenting." However, staffers, who have asked not to be named, have confirmed the threat may have been real. "There has been some talk and it has a few people feeling a bit ill," one said. Monis’s former lawyer Manny Conditsis has also confirmed his one-time client had a beef with Channel 7 that went as far back as 2007. According to a police source, one of the reasons Monis may have been forced to abandon Channel 7 studios as his target was a substantial security increase at the network just two months ago following the plot to behead someone in Martin Place. Meanwhile, the floral tributes to victims Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson continued to pour in at the scene of the tragedy yesterday, with hundreds more adding to the sea of flowers enveloping Martin Place. SATURDAY EXTRA PAGE 39

 

[astroman]

wow

 

[SylviaB]

Only thing missing is fire on that cross... and maybe the white robes... smh...

their actions are not remotely comparable to those of the KKK and youre an ignorant moron if you think they are

 

[wannaspoon]

their actions are not remotely comparable to those of the KKK and youre an ignorant moron if you think they are

Yes, they are more comparable to Crusaders for justice... Modern day Batman

 

[Gary_Oak]

Spotted SylviaB in the Sydney Morning Herald... :lol

Only thing missing is fire on that cross... and maybe the white robes... smh...

Need more of them.... i think they make a point

 

[astroman]

 

[Anthel]

Hahaha... so sad people still stuck in a time machine

 

[SylviaB]

Hahaha... so sad people still stuck in a time machine

wtf does that even mean

 

[SylviaB]

 

[astroman]

they are not muslims, they are cunts.

 

[Speed6]

these are not muslims, these are cunts.

Just like SylviaB xD xD xD

 

[SylviaB]

they are not muslims, they are cunts.

I'm pretty sure they are muslims actually.

 

[Gary_Oak]

I hope he gets tracked down and beheaded

 

[BLIT2014]

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-polit...likely-post-sydney-siege-20141223-12d1gw.html

rime Minister Tony Abbott says there has been a "heightened level of terror chatter" in the wake of the Martin Place siege but has resisted raising the terrorism threat level of extreme.

The National Security Committee met on Tuesday and was briefed on the development by intelligence officials, Mr Abbott said.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says the National Security Committee met on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott says the National Security Committee met on Tuesday. Photo: Andrew Meares
But it has also emerged that the deputy chairman of Parliament's joint committee on intelligence and security, Anthony Byrne has been privately warning parliamentary colleagues on both sides for the past month of the need to raise the terror threat over Christmas.

"On the basis of recent events both here in Australia and overseas, and provided the information that the Prime Minister spoke about was sound and accurate there is a strong case to raise the terror threat to extreme as quickly as possible," he said.

The alert from the Prime Minister comes as the NSW Opposition Leader John Robertson resigned hours after moves began to dump him over revelations he signed a letter of request for gunman Monis

In recent days Mr Byrne has also called for a judicial inquiry into events surrounding the Martin Place siege and in particular whether or not the intelligence or security agencies could have done anything more to prevent the siege from taking place.

Mr Abbott emerged from the security briefings in Sydney to front a snap media conference, in which he urged Australians to celebrate Christmas as normal but be on guard for any suspicious activity.

"The briefing from the security agencies today indicated that there has been a heightened level of terrorist chatter in the aftermath of the Martin Place siege," Mr Abbott said.

"That's why it's important that people remain alert and aware."

ASIO and the Australian Federal Police recommended the national terrorism threat level be raised from "medium" to "high" in September, meaning a terrorism attack was regarded as "likely".

Cafe manager Tori Johnson and barrister Katrina Dawson were killed when Man Haron Monis took 18 people hostage in the Lindt Cafe on the morning of December 15 and held them for 17 hours.

Mr Abbott confirmed on Sunday that an anonymous caller phoned the National Security hotline the weekend before the siege, to warn them of Man Haron Monis' extreme views.

Mr Abbott said the call was followed up but "didn't reveal any imminent attack by this individual."

He stressed the Commonwealth-State investigation, due to report by the end of January next year, would look into the matter, as part of its examination into whether the policing and security agencies dealt with the matter to the best of their ability.

Mr Abbott said he had attended a memorial service for Ms Dawson "a brilliant and beautiful woman from a wonderful and accomplished family who has been cruelly snatched away from us".

"As we prepare to join family and friends to celebrate Christmas we do need to be conscious of the fact that the terror threat remains high. There are people who would do us harm and who can do us harm," he said.

He urged members of the public to report any suspicious behaviour to authorities.

"I do want to reassure you though that our law enforcement agencies and our police forces and our security agencies will be working around the clock to keep you as safe as possible over the holiday season, as they do at all times."

Mr Abbott said the national security committee of the cabinet met for the first time on Tuesday afternoon following the swearing in of his new ministers.

"It was important to me that they were fully briefed on the domestic and international security situation as quickly as possible," he said.

The national security committee was briefed by the head of the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation and the commissioner of the Australian Federal Police.

Asked if the Martin Place siege had provoked further security threats, Mr Abbott said he would not speculate.

"In the wake of the Martin Place brush with terrorism there has been a heightened level of chatter amongst people who we would normally think of as terrorist sympathisers," he said.

Mr Abbott has previously raised concerns about gunman Man Haron Monis falling through the security net.

"One of the things we are doing is asking ourselves do we need to go back and have a look at people who have come to our attention previously and see what is best done to ensure that the community is as safe as it humanly can be. This is the assurance I constantly give to the Australian people.

"The first duty of government is the safety of the community."



(Out of retirement)