As the world's attention was focussed on central Sydney on Monday, two other similar crises were unfolding in other parts of the globe ̶ but neither got the saturation coverage accorded to the siege in the Lindt café.
On Monday afternoon, the police converged on a home in Pennsburg, a suburb of the eastern US city of Philadelphia, where they believed a 35-year-old Iraq War veteran Bradley William Stone had been holed up after shooting estranged relatives in three nearby towns. Six people were killed in the attacks and one seriously injured.
"Come to the front door with your hands up,” the police announced on a megaphone. “You're under arrest."
However, it wasn’t immediately clear whether Stone was actually inside the house. A man answering to Stone’s description is believed to have tried to steal a car in a neighbouring locality.
Local authorities told the BBC that the US police were still searching for the gunman in a number of different locations. Schools were ordered to "shelter in place" and residents of one town are being asked to lock themselves indoors.
Situation in Ghent
Across the Atlantic in the northern Belgian town of Ghent, police stormed a flat in the city’s Dampoort area after four men took one person hostage. Little is known about their motivations but the authorities ordered residents to confine themselves to their homes for their own safety for the duration of the siege.
However, almost as soon as the Sydney siege started on Monday morning, media outlets were quick to label the crisis as an act of terror even though there were no indications of the attacker’s motivations ‒ except for a flag with Arabic lettering that was displayed in the café’s window. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott later announced that the attacker, 50-year-old Man Haron Monis, had a history of mental health problems.
He had a long history of violent crime, infatuation with extremism and mental instability,” Abbott said in a TV address. “As the siege unfolded yesterday, he sought to cloak his actions with the symbolism of the ISIL [ISIS] death cult.”
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On Monday afternoon, the police converged on a home in Pennsburg, a suburb of the eastern US city of Philadelphia, where they believed a 35-year-old Iraq War veteran Bradley William Stone had been holed up after shooting estranged relatives in three nearby towns. Six people were killed in the attacks and one seriously injured.
US police search for Bradley William Stone. AFP.
"Come to the front door with your hands up,” the police announced on a megaphone. “You're under arrest."
However, it wasn’t immediately clear whether Stone was actually inside the house. A man answering to Stone’s description is believed to have tried to steal a car in a neighbouring locality.
Local authorities told the BBC that the US police were still searching for the gunman in a number of different locations. Schools were ordered to "shelter in place" and residents of one town are being asked to lock themselves indoors.
Situation in Ghent
Belgian special forces seal off a neighbourhood in Ghent. IANS.
Across the Atlantic in the northern Belgian town of Ghent, police stormed a flat in the city’s Dampoort area after four men took one person hostage. Little is known about their motivations but the authorities ordered residents to confine themselves to their homes for their own safety for the duration of the siege.
However, almost as soon as the Sydney siege started on Monday morning, media outlets were quick to label the crisis as an act of terror even though there were no indications of the attacker’s motivations ‒ except for a flag with Arabic lettering that was displayed in the café’s window. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott later announced that the attacker, 50-year-old Man Haron Monis, had a history of mental health problems.
He had a long history of violent crime, infatuation with extremism and mental instability,” Abbott said in a TV address. “As the siege unfolded yesterday, he sought to cloak his actions with the symbolism of the ISIL [ISIS] death cult.”
