DEAD SYDNEY GUNMAN SPENT TIME IN MALAYSIA?

PETALING JAYA, Malaysia - If it wasn’t bad enough that Malaysia was identified as a meeting place for the terrorists in the run up to the September 11 tragedy way back in 2001, it has now come to light that dead Sydney gunman Man Haron Monis was in Malaysia in 1996 in his bid to escape authorities.

A notorious criminal with a string of violent and fraud-related offences to his name, Man Haron was even wanted by the Iranian police who requested he be extradited 14 years ago, a request Australian authorities refused to grant, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Speaking to the Mehr News Agency, Iran’s General Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam said Man Haron posed as a cleric at the time to gain political asylum, something he succeeded in doing when Australia granted him refugee status in 2001.

A manager of a travel agency in Iran before escaping the clutches of the law, Man Haron continued to commit a string of crimes even in Australia and was free on bail at the time he chose to take customers at a cafe hostage.

His crimes in Australia included more than 40 sexual assault charges involving seven alleged victims. Last year Man Haron was also charged as an accessory to the stabbing murder of his former wife, who was set alight in a Sydney apartment block.

According to a Reuters report, he was also found guilty in 2012 of sending threatening letters to the families of eight Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan. 

He was sentenced to two years in prison, although he served only a portion of that sentence.

Man Haron, 50, was shot dead when police stormed into the Lindt Cafe early Tuesday, more than 16 hours after he entered the cafe armed with a gun and held 17 customers and staff hostage. 

Two of the hostages lost their lives during the siege.

Source: FMT