Australia’s prime minister acknowledged Wednesday that the nation’s security system failed to keep track of a gunman responsible for a deadly siege at a Sydney cafe, and promised a transparent investigation into why the man was not on any terror watch list despite having a long criminal history.
Man Haron Monis, a 50-year-old Iranian-born, self-styled cleric described by Prime Minister Tony Abbott as deeply disturbed, took 17 people hostage inside a downtown Sydney cafe on Monday. Sixteen hours later, the siege ended in a barrage of gunfire when police rushed in to free the captives. Two hostages were killed along with Monis.
“The system did not adequately deal with this individual,” Abbott conceded on Wednesday. “Two very decent people are dead, others are injured, others are traumatized because of a madman who was roaming our streets.”
Monis was convicted and sentenced last year to 300 hours of community service for sending what a judge called “grossly offensive” letters to families of soldiers killed in Afghanistan between 2007 and 2009. He later was charged with being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife.

Aussie leader: System failed to track siege gunman

Tony Abbott promised a transparent investigation into the Sydney cafe incident. (File photo: AFP)
Sydney
Wednesday 17 December 2014
Last Update: Wednesday, 20 May 2020 KSA 09:45 - GMT 06:45
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