Hostages In Sydney Cafe

The inquest was told that police had hoped to "contain and negotiate" with Monis, who was armed with the gun and thought to have a bomb in his backpack. It was later discovered to be fake.

An Australian cafe where a gunman inspired by the Islamic State group took customers and staff hostage in a deadly siege will reopen on Friday, a spokesman said.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott foreshadowed tighter immigration controls today when he released the first report into a siege last December in Sydney's Lindt cafe, in which two hostages and the gunman were killed.

Australian counter-terrorism police said today they had thwarted an imminent attack linked to the Islamic State militant group after arresting two men in Sydney a day earlier.

A lawyer assisting a coroner says a hostage who died during a siege in a downtown Sydney cafe was killed when she was struck by fragments of a police bullet.

An inquest into the deadly siege in which an extremist gunman held a cafe full of people captive in Sydney opens on Thursday, amid expectation it will officially lift the lid on how two hostages died.

Australia will built a permanent memorial to remember the victims of the Sydney cafe siege, officials said Sunday as they vowed never to forget the two hostages who died in the stand-off.

The commissioner of police in Australia's New South Wales state, Andrew Scipione, said today he was concerned that the man who took hostages in a Sydney cafe siege had been granted bail on earlier charges, leaving him free in the community.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott today vowed a transparent probe into why a deranged Islamic gunman was not under surveillance, as security was stepped up after a fatal cafe siege to reassure people now in the grip of fear.

The hostages in Sydney pleaded for help - for those among them who were pregnant, sick and elderly and for those who were young and deserved a shot at a decent life.

Heavily armed Australian police stormed a Sydney cafe early today morning and freed terrified hostages held there at gunpoint, in a dramatic end to a 16-hour siege in which two captives and the attacker were killed.

Tearful Sydney office workers and Muslim women in hijabs laid flowers on Tuesday at the scene of a deadly siege, as an outpouring of grief and shock gripped the usually easy-going harbour city.

Australia's prime minister says the gunman who took hostages in a Sydney cafe was "a deeply disturbed individual' known to the police but he was not on a terror watch list.

There was not one but two Infosys employees inside Lindt cafe in Sydney when an armed man laid siege to it, holding 17 people hostage.

A lone gunman on Monday took undisclosed number of people hostage at a popular cafe in Sydney, sparking a security alert in Australia.

The inquest was told that police had hoped to "contain and negotiate" with Monis, who was armed with the gun and thought to have a bomb in his backpack. It was later discovered to be fake.

An Australian cafe where a gunman inspired by the Islamic State group took customers and staff hostage in a deadly siege will reopen on Friday, a spokesman said.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott foreshadowed tighter immigration controls today when he released the first report into a siege last December in Sydney's Lindt cafe, in which two hostages and the gunman were killed.

Australian counter-terrorism police said today they had thwarted an imminent attack linked to the Islamic State militant group after arresting two men in Sydney a day earlier.

A lawyer assisting a coroner says a hostage who died during a siege in a downtown Sydney cafe was killed when she was struck by fragments of a police bullet.

An inquest into the deadly siege in which an extremist gunman held a cafe full of people captive in Sydney opens on Thursday, amid expectation it will officially lift the lid on how two hostages died.

Australia will built a permanent memorial to remember the victims of the Sydney cafe siege, officials said Sunday as they vowed never to forget the two hostages who died in the stand-off.

The commissioner of police in Australia's New South Wales state, Andrew Scipione, said today he was concerned that the man who took hostages in a Sydney cafe siege had been granted bail on earlier charges, leaving him free in the community.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott today vowed a transparent probe into why a deranged Islamic gunman was not under surveillance, as security was stepped up after a fatal cafe siege to reassure people now in the grip of fear.

The hostages in Sydney pleaded for help - for those among them who were pregnant, sick and elderly and for those who were young and deserved a shot at a decent life.

Heavily armed Australian police stormed a Sydney cafe early today morning and freed terrified hostages held there at gunpoint, in a dramatic end to a 16-hour siege in which two captives and the attacker were killed.

Tearful Sydney office workers and Muslim women in hijabs laid flowers on Tuesday at the scene of a deadly siege, as an outpouring of grief and shock gripped the usually easy-going harbour city.

Australia's prime minister says the gunman who took hostages in a Sydney cafe was "a deeply disturbed individual' known to the police but he was not on a terror watch list.

There was not one but two Infosys employees inside Lindt cafe in Sydney when an armed man laid siege to it, holding 17 people hostage.

A lone gunman on Monday took undisclosed number of people hostage at a popular cafe in Sydney, sparking a security alert in Australia.