A gunman took an unknown number of people hostage inside a downtown Sydney chocolate shop and cafe at the height of Monday morning rush hour. Two people inside the cafe hold up a flag believed to contain an Islamic declaration of faith.
Sydney, Australia, Hostage Situation
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Sydney Muslim community leader Jamal Rifi, center, and his family members pray at a makeshift memorial after a siege at Martin Place in the central business district of Sydney, Australia Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014.
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Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his wife Margie prepare to place floral tributes near the cafe in central Sydney, December 16, 2014.
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A woman kneels as she lays flowers in a makeshift memorial near the site where a gunman held hostages for 16 hours at a popular Sydney cafe, Australia, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014.
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People lay flowers to pay respect to the shooting victims at a makeshift memorial at Martin Place in Sydney's Martin Place, Sydney Australia. Tuesday Dec. 16, 2014.