Up to 30 hostages are being held in a chocolate
shop in Sydney by a gunman who's thought to
have links to a Syrian extremist group.
Ten members of staff along with several customers
have been held for more than six hours inside
the Lindt café in Martin Place.
Some hostages have made an escape however
it's not clear if there were released or escaped.
Pictures from the local TV station showed
dozens of heavily armed police surrounding
the café and people being held
back by cordons.
At one point someone inside the café can
be seen holding up a black flag to the window
with Arabic writing on it.
Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, has
spoken out about the incident.
We don't yet know the motivation of the perpetrator.
We don't know whether this is politically motivated
although obviously there are some indications
that it could be.
Australian police negotiators are working
to get the others out and say there's no evidence
that anyone has been harmed but believe the
suspect is armed and one hostage is being
treated in hospital.
Authorities say it's still to early to confirm
if this is a terrorist attack, but are not
ruling it out.
