the pan am bomber hostage situation started just before 10:00 a.m., that would be 6:00 p.m. l local standard time. they have blocked off the there. this >> we begin with a developing story out of sydney, australia, where a man believed to be armed is holding a unknown number of people hostage in a cafe. in the last hour we've seen three of the hostages emerging from the building. it all began at 9:45 local time, so over seven hour ago now when a gunman walked into a cafe. the police have addressed the media and say that negotiations are taking place with the armed man. >> nobody has been harmed or

injured at the moment. we've been working through negotiations to try to make sure that the people inside are cared for, but that they have what they need to--so they don't become ill or injured. we'll continue to do that. >> andrew thomas joins me live from sydney. any update to the situation there, andrew? >> reporter: in the last 45 minutes three people have emerged from the cafe, they've either escaped or released, we're not sure. but the police confirmed that three people have got out of that cafe. but what still is not clear is how many more hostages remain inside the cafe or, indeed, how many hostage takers there might be if there is more than one. we do know there is one armed man inside that cafe. the police would not confirm whether there were any more at all inside. the whole of the area has been

locked down. macquarie street, martin place 200 meters to the left up there. this road is normally a busy thoroughfare. but now it's completely closed off by the police. this central sydney square that has the commercial heart of city in it. the banking scene, offices, a big hotel, lots of shops as well. it's about as central as you can get in sydney, and it's where it's all unfolding or not. we don't know what is going on in that cafe. all the area around remains locked down. >> andrew, we're getting footage art now that shows two more people emerging from the buil building where the cafe is located. we have confirmation that those trapped inside managed to escape, now we can see footage

of two more people managing to emerge. we don't know if they were staff, customers, if they were freed or managed to escape. you can see one of the ladies running away from the building wearing an apron. this would suggest she was an employee at the cafe where all this is unfolding. what can you tell us about the security presence in the vicinity of the cafe? >> well, in the immediate vicinity there are dozens if not hundreds of armed police. more broadly in the areas where i am there is a very heavy police presence, but if you like, it's in stand by mode. the police are not looking like they're moving in any time soon, but neither do they look like they're standing down. they're directing members away from the square.

they said that what you don't want to leave is the people hyped them if it is politically motivated get what they want, which is total disruption to the city. you don't want panic to spread. what you do want to have happen is your normal monday. but this whole part of the city center is locked down. there are two more people who have come out of the cafe, that means five who have escaped. we simply don't know how many people are in totallel police chief suggested there could be as many as 30 or 40 in that cafe. but her information is that there were not as many as 30 people inside. but we don't know how many people we're dealing with.

>> the initial numbers up to 50, having heard the deputy commissioner in new south wales they suggest that we're not looking at any more than 30 hostages inside, andrew. transport has been restricted in this part of the city. certainly where you are, where the siege is taking place, the lockdown has been tightening? >> well, in some areas it's been tightening, and we've been moving back around this road. but in other places at one stage traffic was being stopped from going across the sydney harbor bridge. certain lanes are now open. you can drive across that. i'm told that an earlier evacuation of the sydney opera house is now reverse. there is no suggestion that the famous sydney opera house might be under any emnat attack.

with a building so iconic, when something like this happens less than a kilometer away from it, they want to take precautions and make sure if there is any coordinated attack, and i should stress there is no evidence of that as yet. but if there were some they would evacuate high profile buildings. but in some areas this lockdown is tightening immediately around the square. but in other areas they're trying to establish a sense of natural city, and the city harbor has reopened at least. >> yes, we know that the police an at the siege say it is contained, and it's operational with people trying to go about their daily business. but buildings in the area have been evacuated for obvious reasons. let's listen to some people in sydney.

>> police have arrived, she was telling them that she had gone inside the cafe, and the glass siding doors, the automatic glass siding doors had been disabled and shut. she realized that something was going on inside. she saw police with a blue bag and what she thought was a shotgun. >> we were working while the building was on lockdown. i don't know. it was a bit scary, really. >> what's going on? >> just word of mouth, really. just people being held hostage. >> this is very bad during the festive season. >> just picking up on what they were saying there, this comes days before christmas. we were talking with dennis shanahan earlier on, and he said this is going to impact the

psyche of the people there, to have a hostage taking to take place, and this is significant. this is a high profile bit of town. >> reporter: that's absolutely right. if you look at the equivalent in other cities, it would be like oxford in london or times square in new york. it's central to sydney, a major shopping districts as well as office district. there is a big christmas tree in martin place as well. it is the hub of where many people will be doing their christmas shopping. it would have been a very busy monday morning. after that all the normal business people, people going to their offices, they would have been getting their coffees, he heading to their desks, the coffee shop probably would have been at its busiest at 9:30

9:30, 9:40. i must stress we do not have an accurate number of people inside the cafe. six and a half hours after the siege began nor when it began. we don't know how many people were there. but we can assume its pretty busy. >> yes, because of the nature of the area, and time of day. there would have been people in the area, and we don't know the number of hostages that are trapped inside. and this is directly opposite the television station. they managed to gain live footage of the hostages with their hands pressed against the windows. >> that's right. this was very early on the newsroom is almost directly across from the cafe, and they had cameras trained on that cafe

almost immediately. what they saw was people with their hands up against the windows. one would assume they were the hostages, but i'm speculating. then later what appeared to be a flag or black sheep with arabic writing that says, "there is no god but allah." we don't wanted to speculate who is behind the attack. tony abbott on monday said that the indications from that these attacks might be political, but the phrase political is a broad one as well. the context is a heightened sense of tension in australia. australia involved in airstrikes in iraq. and involved in airstrikes. there have been a number of raids by the police in the western city of melbourne allegedly to crackdown on people who may have had something to do

with the attack on australian soil. all of this has led to australia's government about three months ago spreeing the terror threat that it declares australia to be under. that a terror event is likely to occur. we don't know, this may have nothing to dod with that, but at the moment that's the context. >> and the context is interesting, and it is relevant. we're not linking it to what has "s" happening inside the cafe. the police said they're treating it as a hostage taking but not terrorism. but this is something that is being debated in australia right now. there was already a heightened sense of tension.

what can you tell us about counter terrorism legislation policy in the last few months? >> well, there has been a big crackdown by australia's government, and a lot of controversy about the legislation, that it's draconian and targets the members of the muslim community. what australia's government has done is it has right to look at more metadata, people passing information by e-mail or mobile phone. it has the right to stop people from traveling to parts of the middle east if they're not very open about why they're going there. they have seized people's passports to stop them from traveling there. they have created legislation that stops people from coming back to united states if they've been in parts of the middle east. so they've canceled as ports

while they were overseas, abroad. all that is condemned by many sections of the muslim community as unfairly targets them, but australia's government said that legislation is necessary to protect the home soil here in australia answers any kind of attack. they don't want anybody with expertise coming back from fighting in syria, iraq, places like that, bringing those skills back here to australia because they have fears of an attack possibly long these sorts of line. the grand mufti in australia has condemned what is going on at martin place. again, he doesn't have any more information about who is behind this than you or i at the opening statement. but he said whatever is happening is islamic, and he has condemned it outright.

>> let's listen to a couple of witnesses. there was one woman in particular who works in the building. let's listen to her. >> i walked up to martin place station. i walked up the scares, and for some reason i decided to get it from the station underneath. it was all happening, but my work colleagues were not there, and it was a bit worrying. >> i walked up to it all, and i walked up to the door, everyone was sitting down, which is pretty weak. there was one guy walking around with a hat and a beard, and

yeah, just walking around. i talked to another guy. he told me that it was armed robbery. that's when the police showed up, they cordoned off the whole area. that's when everyone inside put their arms against the county. >> the siege at the cafe, we're looking at foughtage of several hostages managing to escape. three hostages managed to emerge from the building. at least one gunmen involved, possibly more. you could see a heavy-armed presence there. the police have managed to contact the gunmen. crucially, we know that no one has been armed. we see a second woman, two more female hostages, this brings the

total number to five. and then another female hostage wearing an abroken, suggesting that she was an employee at the cafe. we don't know how many are still trapped inside. more in a moment. >> yes, we'll have much more on that story and continue to update you on the situation. also taking a look at other stories making the news this hour. >> i was prepared, and we did. we got the authorization. >> no regrets. the former u.s. vice president depend defends the brutal torture techniques.

hostage situation started just before 10:00 a.m., that would be 6:00 p.m. l local standard time. they have blocked off the there. >> welcome back. you're watching al jazeera live from our headquarters in doha. let's recap our top story. a siege in australia continues. these are the pictures we have from the scene of the hostage taking. you can see two female hostages managing to escape from the building. we don't know how many hostages are still trapped inside. a second female hostage emerging, she's wearing an apron, perhaps an employee at the cafe where the hostage taking has been unfolding. here we see three hostages emerging from the building. that in total brings the number to five hostages who managed to escape from the building. there is a police presence on

the scene. contact with the gunmen has been established. we know that no one has been armed or injured, but we still don't know how many hostages from trapped inside. israel is calling for an end to the occupation of the palestinian territory. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu will meet with secretary of state john kerry on monday. >> israel stands as a solitary island in the wake of the islamic extremism washing over the entire middle east. we stood and against these attacks.

>> gain ferguson is in ramallah in the west bank. >> reporter: the palestinian leadership announced they would submit their draft solution to u.n. security council on wednesday. that's one week after they meet with u.s. secretary of state john kerry. even before this would go to a vote there would be numerous political and bureaucratic upheaval before it was negotiated. it would need nine photo votes to pass, and the u.s. could still use their powers to veto this. this is being seen as the first step to bring a resolution that has been discussed for some months on the international stage. >> the police have raided a university to break up anti-government protests. these videos show students

marching, at least seven students were reportedly arrested. well, falling oil prices have dealt a blow to egyptian economy. the benchmark index fell five points to 3%, the lowest value in a month and a half. this comes after the opec decision not to cut oil production in the face of weaker demands. former vice president dick cheney once again defends brutal techniques used. the comments come after the u.s. released a summary of techniques used against inmates around the world. >> former vice president dick cheney and other bush-era former officials are facing tough

questions over the cia's so-called enhanced interrogation techniques. new details have been coming out of 500 plus page senate report in the wake of september 11 september 11, 2001. these techniques includes waterboarding, hanging people by their wrists and even a technique called rectal r rehydration. these techniques may seem brutal to the average person, former vice president dick cheney said that they were necessary. and the reports outlined the steps taken by the cia to stay within guidelines, having medical personnel on hand to make sure that they did not overstep bounds. former vice president dick

cheney stands by the techniques. >> torture to me is an u.s. citizen making a phone call to his four young daughters before he burns to death in world trade center on '9. there seems to be no equivalent between what we did and what the terrorist asks. that is not true. we were staying short of that definition. we did capture bin laden and those responsible for the attack on 9/11. he would do it again in a minute. >> while that report and the review is causing great debate in the united states, it's unlikely that congress will move forward with any form of prosecution against former cia agents or former officials, especially considering that the congress con se convening on

january will be made up of republicans supportive of the techniquetechniques in large part. >> iranian negotiators are heading to geneva for more talks on their nuclear program. iran will also want to discuss the possibility of more sanctions being lifted. p 5 plus 1 countries including united states, an u.k. and germany. >> malikal has changed hands

several times. each after intense battles. the town had been quiet for months now, but many people are still afraid. for many going back is not an right now. >> i blame the government. it has come down to us, why? i don't even know. >> but a few like this man has come back. he told us that he had to leave the placement. he had to start his life no matter the risk. >> hundreds of miles from here in athlete yep i can't, leaders have been holding talks. there have been no political settlement yet. >> the negotiating teams have agreed on the formation of a transition government. the prime minister to be

nominated by the rebel groups, but other details still need to be worked out including the powers of the prime minister and how and when the two armies will be integrated. >> it's a great compromise. >> many analysts including this man believer that this is a power struggle that may not yield much in the long run. >> either leadership in government and political leadership, i believe we will not have peace if the only condition for peace is one that paints with current position. >> they have said they want peace, but like many others who are suffering, they're not so sure.

>> al jazeera continues to demand the release of our three journalist who is have been in prison in egypt for 352 days. mohamed fahmy, bader mohammed, and peter greste were jailed on false charges of helping the outlawed muslim brotherhood. they are appealing against their convictions. coming up after the break we'll have more on the siege unfolding in sydney. more hostages have managed to escape. they've been seen leaving the building. two more family hostag female hostages, that brings a total of five. we don't know if they were freed or escaped, but total of five freed hostages. at least one gunman is involved, and the police have established contact with them. no one has been harmed or injured. back in a minute.

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hostage situation started just before 10:00 a.m., that would be 6:00 p.m. l local standard time. they have blocked off the there. >> welcome back. you're watching al jazeera. let's recap our top story. eight hours now into the siege in sydney, and a total of five hostages have been seen leaving the building where the events are taking place. these are the pictures of three hostages that emerged from the building a little bit earlier on. you can see that they emerged from the backside of that building, and then the latest picture we have show two more female has hallelujahs running away. one of them you can see wearing an apron, suggesting that she was an employee, a total of five hostages managing to leave.

we know that there is an armed man inside. we don't know how many more hostages are trapped inside the cafe with them. we know that the police have managed to establish contact with the gunmen. no doubt they'll want to interview and question those who have managed to emerge from the building to discover what they know. we don't know the motivation of the hostage taker. we don't know if they're affiliated with any group or organization. but this siege taking place in what is a very hig high-profile area, the cafe it is, we're talking about a financially significant part of sydney in its business district. you have the parliament building, and bank of australia. eight hours later the siege continues. dominick kane has our report. >> reporter: after hours as

hostages in a sydney cafe finally some people escape their ordeal. they had been part of a bigger group of customers and staff held against their will in the lint chocolate cafe. >> the first thing we would do is make sure that they're okay, then we would work with these people to find out more information. it's really important that i stress that our number one aim is to resolve this incident peacefully. >> the siege began on a busy monday morning in the sydney's martin place. the man inside is wearing a bandanna and appears to be caring a rucksack. he is seen holding one person in front of him, as if like a human shield. >> we don't yet know the motivation of the perpetrator. we don't know whether this is politically motivated, although obvious italy, there are some indications that it may.

>> one witness described what he saw when he arrived at work at the cafe. >> the guy was walking around, and that's when the police came, cordoned off the area, and that's when everyone started to move back, everyone put their hands up and they put the flag up. >> on the flag is the islamic creed. the authorities have closed down much of the area. and some allies have rerouted their flights so they don't fly over the city's central business district. the negotiators are now at the scene and have been talking to the man. the polices will have a very heavily armed presence at martin place. >> andrew thomas joins me live now from sydney. a total of five people have "r" seen running from the martin police cafe, but we don't know how many more hostage hostages

are still trapped inside. >> reporter: that's right, and in a press confidence an hour ago now the deputy commissioner was asked by a journalist if there were 30 or 40 people in that cafe as suggested. she said no, they did not believe that there were as many as 30 in the cafe. but she would not put a number on how many were inside or, indeed, how many hostage takers there were. we know of one armed hostage taker. when asked, she would not speculate as to whether there were many more. the numbers are a bit unknown at the moment. >> there is one armed man insi inside, andrew, at least one, there could be more according to information that we've had from police. there were reports of bomb disposal experts on the scene. now, we don't know if the man inside possesses any such device or anything like that.

what are you hearing about that, and about the security presence around you? >> well, we've spoken to people who were evacuated from the buildings immediately next to the cafe, an hour ago now. there was a steady treatment of those people, and some of those told us that they saw a man in the cafe with a backpack. of course we don't know what is in the backpack. the police don't want to take any chances, and if there is any chance at all, they're going to send their bomb exposur experts who will tell us what sort of weapon they may have in there. all we know there is one armed hostage taker. the cafe on martin place, a

major pedestrian thoroughfare. very busy not only with office workers but shoppers as well. the sydney opera house is only 600 to 800 meters from where i stand. it couldn't get more central in terms of where this is all unfolding. but the cafe itself is not particularly high profile, but the square with the tv station, the banks, the shops all around, it's a high profile area of sydney. >> andrew, hang in there if you can. we want to hear from counterterrorism expert, we spoke with them earlier on about how the situation is developing in sydney. >> the landline to the cafe it icafe, that is connected, and

they're trying contact people who are in there. >> now, an unknown number of people are being held hostage. is there any way to ascertain how many people are inside? >> it will be very difficult. they'll be taking pictures of people as they've got their faces pressed to the windows. so they can get some idea of the number of people are inside. they're speaking to people who have interests in the cafe, to find out how many people staff and those who are employed on the monday as well. >> the tv station is right by

the cafe. the police have moved further back from the cafe. what do you think might be happening? >> that might be one of the demands for the people inside. if they did manage to contact the people inside, that would be their priority is to make contact, it might be that the people inside have said you must move your police officers further back, and they've complied with that to show willingness to the people in there. >> do you think the police will be trying to communicate with the hostage data? >> absolutely. that will be their number one priority, to try to find out what the hostage takers want. my feeling is that the people, they will have gone in there with a plan, a well planned operation in the it's a soft

target no protection in terms of guards. it's right next to a television channel station. it seems to be very well-chosen target. >> andrew, hearing terrorism experts talking about the high profile. many may not have herds of the cafe if they're not familiar with the area. but many of those buildings have been evacuated. just take us through the significance of where all of this is unfolding, and of course, nick pointing out this is a place where there would have been a great security preference. you wouldn't have had police officers or guards around anywhere. >> reporter: no, that's right. it's not a major bank that might

have guards there either. and australia is not somewhere where you tend to see lots of guards or police around generally. it's a fairly open city, sydney, and they certainly would not have had guards, and martin police would no generally have guards. as well as being a commercial hub it's in some sense a media hub because one of the main commercial networks in unite australia, channel seven, has its newsroom almost directly opposite of this cafe. the effects that we have of hostages with their hands up against the windows, they were shot by channel 7 cameras right across this squire. this high profile market, you could not have picked a better target. the cafe itself is not particularly well-known, but the square is. >> earlier on hearing from

police commissioner of new south ways, that the situation is contained and the city still operationer. what are you hearing about the ripple effect in the city, andrew, that the authorities will want people to retain some sort of sense of normalcy. after seeing the pictures from today, it's anything but that. >> if this does turn out to be some kind of terrorist attack, let's not jump to conclusions because we have no idea what it is. but if it is, just as prime minister tony a abbott said, one of the ambitions hyped it, the fear, terror, and all the things that go along with that, the president was very keen to say that australians in general

should not let what is happening in a small area o, they should not let this influence their daily life. having said that, if you're monday generally involves getting near this area, then your monday is ultimaterly disrupted. this is one of the main and performance-enhancing drugs thorough fairs through the heart, and it's totally closed off. the police tape goes in a big cordoned right around the area, stretching 500 to 600-meters in any direction from martin place. that may not seem like a huge distance, give that this is right in the heart of sydney it's a large chunk of sydney that is shut down. it's certainly not business as usual. there is traffic movement on

where many lanes of traffic going on as well. at one point the police stopped traffic from crossing the bridge, although the bridge is now reopened. i had to park a kilometer back and walk in. and during that walk i saw up to 200 police officers not that i could see with weapons drawns, but they certainly have those weapons drawn inside martin place as well. we did hear from the police france that contact has been made with the hostage taker, and it's continuing to be made with him as well. there is some negotiation under way, but we don't know the exact nature of that. as i keep on repeating we don't know if there is one hostage maker, whether there might be more ruled in or out, and nor do

we know how many people are doing inside this calfify. >> michael: we saw five people leaving the building, although we don't know if they were freed, released or managed to escape. that reflects the on the geography in sydney. the significance of the central business district as andrew was saying it would have been a very busy area. it's called martin place. the lindt chocolate cafe is held directly inside. it's just 30 to 40 meters from the news channel 7. a lot of buildings in the area have been evacuated, but there is nothing to success that there is any link between those connections and what i'm unfolding what happened inside the cafe. we understand that people are

allowed back to the opera house, if the police have left this particular building. these people gave their reaction. >> three police, motorcycles arrived and some on foot very quickly. she was telling them that she had goon on to the side of the cafe, and the glass sliding doors had been disabled and shut. she thought perhaps the cafe was closed, and she thought something was going on. she told police she had seen a man with a blue bag and what she thought to be a shotgun. >> i was a bit nervous. i don't know. it's just a bit scary, really. >> just a lot of police action and fire crews really. >> what's going on? >> just word of mouth really, people being held hostage.

>> it's very sad during the festive season. >> this man described what he saw as he passed the door of the cafe while making a delivery. >> i knocked on the glass trying to get somebody's attention. i carried three delivers. and then obviously the gunman opened the bag up and revealed a gun to get rid of her. she said, gun, gun, gun in the blue bag. yes, i saw the gunmen. he's quite tall, pretty late 40s and had a light shirt on with a black vest. he was very calm, he was just pacing. he was looking out, and there

were customers still sitting down at the tables. they were still drinking, but i'm not sure what was going to unfold. >> well, andrew, one witness there describing what he saw as he passed by the cafe as he was making a delivery. he described the hostage taker as a gunman. we don't know what he may be armed with, and we don't know whether it's more than one hostage taker inside. we know that there is at least one. he described him as a gunman. we don't know whether--we don't know the identity of this person. we do not know whether or not they were affiliated with any group either inside australia or outside of the country. >> no, we don't. what we do know is at one stage early on in this siege what appeared to be a black flag or a black sheet was held in the window. we don't know who by, and that

it had arabic writing on it. it has led some people to speculate that this may be an attack launched in the name of muslim fundamentalism. i'll give you the broader context to all of this. australia's terror level has been raised by the government in the last couple of months to a level that a terrorist attack on australia finance soil has become likely not because of the general shatter has bee chatter to suggest that there is talk going on. whether this siege is an attack in the name of one of those groups or individuals is simply unclear. there have been numerous raids on properties in the western part of sydney and in the sydney

of melbourne, australia. they say they've founted those raids because of information they have that suggested that people have been planning attacks on australian toils in the name of islamic state or isil, or one of those people just a few remain in custody. one of those alleged plots, these are from media reports, not the police them about alleged plots. they seize them and behead them in martin square in full public view. we don't know who they might be, but it gives the feel of the situation we've got going on and

the amount of tension going on in the air. >> that's right country is in a heightened state of alert. in the last few months there has been something of a crackdown. there has been hardening of counter tomorrow legislation. is that something broadly supported by the australian public? >> if you look at opinion polls, yes it is. but if you listen to the muslim community, particularly in australia, they feel that they're being untarted against legislation. legislation that included the seizing of people's passports, stopping them from traveling to other countries if it is believed by police and security services that their might be

left hyped. they are afraid that they might develop skills to be bought back over here. they are now collecting metada metadata, information that tells them who you were talking on your phone, who you meet and these various rounds of legislation that have gone through the parliament where it should be said the support of not only the government, but also the main option parties as well, while many are said that these laws are too draconian, and they unfairly target or unfairly targeting muslims in australia, those laws have passed, and they're said to be necessary to prevent attacks in australia. it should be said that the grand mufti, a senior islamic figure here in australia, he has

outright condemned what is going on in martin place. not to say that he has any information at all, but whatever it is, he has called a criminal act. at the moment that's what this is, a criminal act of an armed man holding hostages, but the motivation behind it we simply don't know. >> broad support amongst the public for counterterrorism legislation, and how would you describe public sentiment? is that something that people are in favor of? >> well again, broadly speaking, public opinion polls suggest that the people here in australia are supported of the government joining the united

states in airstrikes and in iraq, for example, and certainly does seem to be brought about that. there is some concern if australia involves itself in another adventure that could bring attacks back home. that is the background to all of this, yes. >> all right, andrew, thank you very much. andrew staying on top of the developments as the siege continues, eight hours since it began in sydney, in the central business district, as we see heavy police presence in the area. it has been cordoned off. we've seen five hostaged running from the building. we don't know the circumstances surrounding this. they may have escaped, we know there is a large hostage taker, at least one armed man inside with them. that could be more.

we don't know what weaponry he could potentially be armed with. there you have the station continuing with pictures. we have two hostages wearing aprons, possibly police of the cafe. the police says no one has been armed, no one has been injured. they have established contact with the hostage taker. no doubt they'll be wanting to speak to those emerging from the building. we don't know what they know. we don't know if he's connected with any organizations inside or outside of the country. the police say they're treating it as a hostage organization as opposed to terrorism.

>> we are being tested in sydney. whatever the test we will face it head on, and we will remain a strong democratic civil society. >> but we have learned that a local broadcaster has said that he was contacted by someone reportedly the hostage taker. he said he was contacted by that person, who in turn he wanted to speak with australia's prime minister. it's not just one report emerging from the moment. we know right now five hostages have been seen running from the building. we don't know how many morning are trapped inside. there is one armed man holding them against their will.

there could be monday, but at least one armed man, and we don't know what he has been arounded with. the area has been cordoned off. communication has been steaked with the hostage taker. thwe heard from prime minister tony abbott earlier on. he was saying that they don't know the circumstances of this attack, but it could have been politically motivated. we're also hearing from the police commissioner saying that no one has been harmed, no one has been injured. five hostages have emerged from the building, but an unknown number still trapped inside. a more later on, stay with us. >>

selling cocaine was my purpose.

>> we were starving just looking for a way to succeed. >> the first time that i seen rock cocaine was 1980. >> the murder rate was sky-high. >> south of the ten freeway was kind of a no-man's land. >> he said, "ya know, we're selling it to the blacks, you go into these neighborhoods, there's no cops, you can sell to who every you want and when they start killing each other no body cares. >> i was going through like a million dollars worth of drugs just about every day. >> that's like gold! we can make a fortune. >> he was maybe the biggest guy in la. >> freeway rick was getting his dope from a very big operator. i think we're into something that's bigger than us, something we really can't deal with. >> they had been trafficking on behalf of the united states government. >> she could prove what she was saying. >>♪ crack in the system >> i'm joie chen, i'm the host of america tonight, we're revolutionary because we're going back to doing best of storytelling. we have an ouportunity to really reach out and really talk to voices that we haven't heard before...

i think al jazeera america is a watershed moment for american journalism hostages ran for safety in australia, but there are others still trapped inside a cafe, held by an armed man city central business distribute in sydney, that is, in lockdown, major buildings evacuated. police have descended on the area. hello from al jazeera headquarters in doha, i'm david fost foster. following a story out of australia. we'll be live in sydney for the latest. coming up, south sudan a year on, a report