Sydney siege: Combating homegrown terror

Armed police officers stand at the ready close to a cafe under siege at Martin Place in Sydney. Photo / AP

The siege comes months after Australia's biggest ever counter-terrorism raids and follows repeated warnings by ASIO, the domestic spy agency, of the growing threat of a homegrown domestic attack.

Much of the concern has focused on disaffected Muslim youths in the outer suburbs of Sydney and other cities.

Watch: Hostage drama: People escape

About 90 Australians have travelled to Iraq and Syria to fight with Isis (Islamic State)and other extremist groups, with about 20 known to have died. Just two weeks ago, the Government passed new security laws, including the declaration of "no go zones" in Syria. Any Australian who travels to the zones could face 10 years in jail.

Gallery: Siege at Sydney cafe

Image 1 of 29: NSW Public Order and Riot Squad Police are seen outside the Lindt cafe in the central business district of Sydney. Photo / AAP

The raids in September apparently thwarted a plot to conduct public beheadings on the streets of Sydney. Australia has about 500,000 Muslims, with large populations in Sydney and Melbourne.

What does the flag suggest?

Note of caution/skepticism on reading too much into that flag: Sydney hostage-taking seems extremely out of character for *any* jihadist org

Max Fisher, previously of the Washington Post now with Vox, tweeted

Getting hold of an [Isis] flag would be quite difficult, and people will make do with what they have got

Greg Barton, a terrorism expert from Melbourne's Monash University, said

All we know for sure at the moment is that a crime is being committed and someone involved wants to suggest an Islamic association. Someone in that shop wants us to know they have an Islamic link. They could be doing it for any one of a number of reasons; it could be a terror-related incident. It is unclear what outcome they want.

Lowy Institute military fellow James Brown said

[The hostage-holders] may be young guys, maybe not savvy, they've got their hands on a bit of paraphernalia to suggest they have aligned themselves with Isis. If this was centrally organised from Syria or Iraq they would not be using that flag

Monash University senior politics lecturer Dr Ben MacQueen