By Max Bartels
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania
Canberra, Australia
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has ordered inquiries into the Sydney Siege and the gunman Man Haron Monis who killed two hostages when he seized a Sydney coffee shop and took 18 hostages. Police stormed the coffee shop and killed Monis after he executed one of the hostages. Since the attack there has been much speculation on whether the attack was a terrorist attack by the Islamic State or the actions of one mentally unstable fanatic.
After the attack a leader of Australia’s Labor Party resigned after it came to light that he wrote a letter of support to Monis back in 2011 over the custody of his children on Father’s Day. The request for custody was granted even though Monis had been charged for sending offensive letters to the families of dead Australian soldiers. Monis’ then wife was murdered two years after the letter was written and Monis was charged with accessory to murder while his girlfriend, Almirah Droudis was arrested for murder. The politician stated that at the time, the letter was just a routine granting of a constituent’s request but its effect on the polls and the loss of the support of his colleagues led him to resign.
Prime Minister Abbott has warned that terrorist chatter regarding attacks on Australia has increased since the Sydney Siege and Australia remains on high alert. The Prime Minister has refused to link the attack in Sydney to the Islamic state or Islam. Monis was previously on the Australian terror watch list but fell off at some unknown point. The attack was committed while Monis was out on bail for the accessory to murder charge.
The Prime Minster continues to support Australian troops fighting in the coalition against the Islamic State. Abbott has stated that fighting the IS threat abroad keeps Australians safer at home. Currently Australia has deployed 200 special forces personnel to Iraq to assist in training the Iraqi military as well as about 400 other personnel, including fighter jets to aide in the airstrikes against IS assets in Iraq and Syria. Abbott has not ruled about expanding Australia’s contribution and role in the U.S led coalition.
For more information, please see:
The Daily Mail — Police Believed Sydney Gunman had a Bomb Strapped to Himself — 3 January 2015
