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Home / World

Sydney siege: Combating homegrown terror

Daily Telegraph UK
15 Dec, 2014 04:00 PM2 mins to read

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Armed police officers stand at the ready close to a cafe under siege at Martin Place in Sydney. Photo / AP

Armed police officers stand at the ready close to a cafe under siege at Martin Place in Sydney. Photo / AP

The siege comes months after Australia's biggest ever counter-terrorism raids and follows repeated warnings by ASIO, the domestic spy agency, of the growing threat of a homegrown domestic attack.

Much of the concern has focused on disaffected Muslim youths in the outer suburbs of Sydney and other cities.

Watch: href="http://m.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/video.cfm?c_id=1503076&gal_cid=1503076&gallery_id=147256" target="_blank">Hostage drama: People escape

About 90 Australians have travelled to Iraq and Syria to fight with Isis (Islamic State)and other extremist groups, with about 20 known to have died. Just two weeks ago, the Government passed new security laws, including the declaration of "no go zones" in Syria. Any Australian who travels to the zones could face 10 years in jail.

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Gallery: Siege at Sydney cafe

NSW Public Order and Riot Squad Police are seen outside the Lindt cafe in the central business district of Sydney. Photo / AAP
Evacuees in Hyde Park due to a siege under way in Martin Place, Sydney. Photo / AAP
Evacuees in Hyde Park due to a siege under way in Martin Place, Sydney. Hostages are being held at a chocolate cafe in Sydney's central business district, surrounded by police. Photo / AAP
NSW Public Order and Riot Squad Police are seen outside the Lindt cafe in the central business district of Sydney. Photo / AAP
Police secure the scene near Lindt Cafe, Martin Place. Photo / Getty Images
Armed police patrol the vicinity at Lindt Cafe, Martin Place on in Sydney, Australia. Photo / Getty Images
Photo / AAP
A sniper sets up on Philip Street at Martin Place on December 15, 2014 in Sydney, Australia. Photo / Getty Images
Police stand at the ready close to a cafe under siege in Martin Place in the central business district of Sydney. Photo / AAP
Hostages hold hands against the window of the Lindt Cafe in Martin's Place Sydney where armed gunmen have taken about 13 people hostage. Photo / Daily Telegraph
Photo / Arden Macdonald
Photo / Arden Macdonald
Photo / Arden Macdonald
Photo / Arden Macdonald
Photo / Arden Macdonald
Ladies rush through Philip St past armed police at Lindt Cafe, Martin Place. Photo / Getty Images
Firemen are seen at a barricade on Castlereigh Street in Sydney, Australia. Photo / Getty Images
An armed policeman is seen on Philip St walking towards Martin Place in Sydney, Australia. Photo / Getty Images
Hostages run to safety during a cafe siege in the central business district of Sydney , Australia. Photo / AP
Armed tactical response officers and emergency workers attend the scene after a cafe siege in the central business district of Sydney. Photo / AP
Emergency personnel wheel an injured hostage to an ambulance during a cafe siege in the central business district of Sydney , Australia. Photo / AP
A injured hostage is wheeled to an ambulance after shots were fired during  a cafe siege at Martin Place in Sydney. Photo / AP
A hostage runs to armed tactical response police officers for safety after she escaped from a cafe under siege at Martin Place. Photo / AP
Armed police officers point as they stand at the ready in Sydney. Photo / AP
A injured hostage is carried to an ambulance after shots were fired during  a cafe  siege at Martin Place. Photo / AP
Armed tactical response officers stand by as a stretcher is wheeled past after a siege in the central business district of Sydney. Photo / AP
Armed tactical response officers enter the building after shots were fired during a cafe siege in the central business district. Photo / AP
A hostage runs to armed tactical response police officers for safety after she escaped. Photo / AP
Sam Tiger right, and Abdulrahman El-Lawn perform prayers  after a cafe siege in the central business district of Sydney , Australia. Photo / AP

Image 1 of 29: NSW Public Order and Riot Squad Police are seen outside the Lindt cafe in the central business district of Sydney. Photo / AAP

The raids in September apparently thwarted a plot to conduct public beheadings on the streets of Sydney. Australia has about 500,000 Muslims, with large populations in Sydney and Melbourne.

What does the flag suggest?

Note of caution/skepticism on reading too much into that flag: Sydney hostage-taking seems extremely out of character for *any* jihadist org

Max Fisher, previously of the Washington Post now with Vox, tweeted

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Getting hold of an [Isis] flag would be quite difficult, and people will make do with what they have got

Greg Barton, a terrorism expert from Melbourne's Monash University, said

All we know for sure at the moment is that a crime is being committed and someone involved wants to suggest an Islamic association. Someone in that shop wants us to know they have an Islamic link. They could be doing it for any one of a number of reasons; it could be a terror-related incident. It is unclear what outcome they want.

Lowy Institute military fellow James Brown said

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[The hostage-holders] may be young guys, maybe not savvy, they've got their hands on a bit of paraphernalia to suggest they have aligned themselves with Isis. If this was centrally organised from Syria or Iraq they would not be using that flag

Monash University senior politics lecturer Dr Ben MacQueen

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