5 hostages escape from besieged Sydney cafe

Five hostages have escaped from a Sydney cafe besieged by a gunman during Monday morning rush hour, according to local media.

The remaining hostages – who include men and women but no children -- are being ordered to stand with their hands against the windows in rotations, 7NEWS reported.

Three people had exited the building in the Martin Place plaza approximately six hours after the siege began at around 10 a.m., and another two hostages -- women employees -- were later seen fleeing the Lindt Chocolat Cafe in the city’s financial and shopping district.

Police have ordered that the contact some hostages have made with media outlets not be broadcast in order not to put their safety into risk, the Australian reported.  

Earlier, footage of hostages forced to hold a black flag with Arabic script believed to be the Islamic declaration of faith had been broadcast on television based on video shot through the café’s windows.

While the number of hostages remains unknown, it is estimated to stand at less than 30, the news website cited Catherine Burn, New South Wales deputy police commissioner, as saying.

“Those [the gunman’s] motivations are not known and it would not be good to speculate,” she said, explaining that task force pioneer, an operation for countering terror-related events, had been activated as negotiators had made contact with the gunman.

A resolution could take some time, according to Burn.

Andrew Scipione, the state’s police commissioner, told a press conference that police efforts to determine the meaning behind the flag are ongoing.

“It’s a flag that we’ve had people looking at. We’re working with partner agencies to better determine what we’re dealing with,” he told reporters.

In a statement, Prime Minister Tony Abbott called the incident “very disturbing,” saying it is “profoundly shocking that innocent people should be held hostage by an armed person claiming political motivation.”

Stating that New South Wales’ police and agencies had responded with great professionalism, he added, “We are a free, open and generous people and today we have responded to this in character.”

Meanwhile, the country’s Grand Mufti has condemned the hostage situation, releasing a statement saying: “The Grand Mufti and the Australian National Imam Council condemn this criminal act unequivocally and reiterate that such actions are denounced in part and in whole in Islam.” 

The Australian cited Rehin Ghauri, former president of the country’s Federation of Islamic Councils, as expressing his concern for his “Australian brothers and sisters.”

“We along [with] the wide Australian society await the results of the investigation about the identity of the perpetrators and their underlying motivations behind the criminal act,” he said. “Holding people hostage like this is totally, absolutely and honestly un-Islamic.”

Residents have been urged to avoid the Martin Plaza area. The Australian reported that as evening approached, tents had been set up nearby in Sydney’s central business district as part of counter terrorism efforts by the police force, emergency services and the Department of Community Services.