>> five hostages managed to escape a siege in a cafe in sydney, but an armed man continues to keep an unconfirmed number of people trapped inside. >> we will go to sydney for the latest in a few minutes. this is al jazeera. also ahead the battle for libya, 16 people die after violence near the border with t tunisia. >> no planes and then no trains. belgium in a strike against

austerity measures. >> an armed man is still holding an unknown number of people hostage inside of a cafe in the australian city of sydney. most of the central business district has been in lockdown since the seen started at 5:45 local time. these are live pictures from outside the cafe with those people are still being held. let's get the latest from andrew thomas, who joins us live from sydney. the situation sass drag--has dragged in to the night. it is now 1:00 a.m.. give us a sense of what is happening around the cafe. it seems very quiet. >> it does seem very quiet. not only in the immediate vicinity but the streets as

well. the lockdown began at 9:45 in the morning sydney time. there were line of ambulances and police vehicles. they have moved on, but this whole area, the sydney cbd. it's the square that is normally bustling on a monday morning with office workers, there is a television station based than square, and justin days before christmas in the main shopping district as well as the main commercial district, that's where it would have been very busy. this road, macquarie street, it is one of the main thoroug thoroughfares right in the middle of sydney. right now this entire area of syd my cbd is locked down. we look at the events of the

day. >> this woman is running from the scene. but others remain trapped inside, and have been all day. officers nearby and a television station opposite the cafe were evacuated. all those specific motives have not been discussed publicly. they have described the armed hostage taker as politically motivator. >> this is a very disturbing incident. it is profoundly shocking that innocent people should be held hostage by an armed person claiming political motivation. >> here one of the hostaged who escape is taken away by police. the information that the escaped hostaged provide may be useful to the security forces to get the people out in safety.

>> our only plan, our only goal tonight as long as it takes to get those people who are currently taught in that building out. >> it all started in the monday morning rush hour. >> the woman was summoning police. plea police and motorcycles arrived and some on foot very quickly. she had said she had gone in to go into the cafe, and the glass sliding doors that allow you to go in were disabled and shut. she first thought that the cafe was gone but then saw a man in a blue bag and what she thought was a shotgun. >> this man appears to be wearing a bandanna and carrying a rucksack. the flag was held up in the ca cafe's window with a statement that there is only one god and mohammed is his messenger. they are in contact in the

city's islamic communities. >> they gave support and confidence in what the police are doing. the police are thankful for it. we are in this together. >> reporter: many have left the area. many areas have been cordoned off, and there is a heavy security presence across sydney cbd. >> we don't know what the motives of what the hostage taker are, but many are coming out and condemning this incident. you know, there are fears of forces of backlash within the community in australia? >> reporter: there certainly have. in the last few months there has been a wrath of legislation working its way through parliament, but australia's government said its necessary to protect australians from

so-called islamic fundamentalists because they have raised the terror alert for medium to high. to suggest that they believe an attack is likely not that they knew anyone specific was coming, but they believed generally they left the chatter that they've been hearing that there may have been an attack likely. now that legislation has been interpreted by many in the muslim community here in australia as being aimed at them. there are measures that stop australia from traveling abroad, by confiscating their passport if they believe they're intending visits to australia. and there may be family members in those countries who they want to visit. they have to prove they're not traveling for maligned reasons they think is very unfair. likes wise, the communication between mobile phones and

websites people have visiting, directin,, collecting, again, the muslim community fell that's targeted at their community. community tensions have been high. we don't know what the motivation of this hostage taking is? we don't know, but it's been called a criminal act in the square. the grand mufti in australia has condemned this as well, and positively we're seeing a big campaign on social media right now, hashtag #i will go with you i will walk with you i will rides with you.

>> thank you. andrew thomas for us live in sydney. >> i spoke with a lawyer and community advocate, and i asked her about the fears of the backlash within the community. >> the incidents unfolding in sydney today obviously have rattled everybody, and the strained muslim community along side the rest of the strained community. they're utterly shocked and horrified at what is taking place. our immediate thoughts are with the hostages today. they've endured so much in the last 10 to 12 hours and they face a rough night ahead of them. the strained muslim community, they have been horrified. several factors have been issued. the grand mufti released an issue and other organizations

with a message that it surely obvious by now. it shouldic said over and over again the acts of individual criminals are not reflective of the greater population. our thoughts and prayers go out to the hostages, family and friends, who are waiting around, hoping, and we're praying for them, and hoping for peaceful vigilation. >> police units moved in on a dozen targets, some of the organizers are believed in jail and they were policed to be coordinating the network from prison. many are thought to have left france to join fight necessary iraq and syria.

meanwhile a conference is taking place discussing ways to block fighters from traveling to conflicts in foreign countries. the local counterterrorism forum is working to bring delegates from 18 member countries. >> how to stem that flow. now, one of the major concerns for the participants is what to do when these fighters return back home, and how to sift through the ones who are returning to commit an attack in the country where they are, or those who return simply because they're disillusioned. there someone acknowledgment that each country has their own national security concerns, and they have to attack that issue first by integrating youth, finding more ways for these youth to channel their anger and

frustration. there is an acknowledgment that not everyone goes to the battlefield for theological reasons. some of them are just venting anger and frustration back home, so how to deal with that. then there are things that all countries can do together, and that is information sharing, how to monitor social media without it becoming a witch-hunt and anyone who looks at the twitter accounts or social media pages that deals with that issue. certainly there are certainly things that need to be done. they say there is a need for tighter control at the borders, but also along the borders, hundreds of kilometers of them that exist in that part of the world. so certainly a lot of challenges is a recognition that it will be difficult to bring everybody on board, every country has its own way of dealing with things, but

there is also recognition if it doesn't come out of a common effort, then that trend will continue for quite awhile. >> rebels in syria say they killed about 50 government soldiers during an attack in idlib. rebel factions took part in the assault. >> in iraq nine mechanics of the police force have been killed in ramadi, an attack by the islamic state in iraq and the levant. the iraqi army has been engaged in fear fighting as it tries to push isil out of anbar province. there has been violence near the border crossing. forces are backed by tribesmen on the ground. [ gunfire ] >> al jazeera continues to demand the release of our three journalist who is have been imprisoned in egypt for 352

days. missourmohamed fahmy, bader mohammed, and peter greste were jailed on false charges of helping the outlawed muslim brotherhood. they appeal their convictions. a nationwide group has come to a standstill. >> the objectives the unions was to bring the country to a standstill. and they do seem to have achieved that aim. the public sector is ground to a standstill. still a small shots and cafes are hope. by and large the city has been completely deserted. they are against the spending cuts, and would also see the government scrapping planned

inflation linked pay rise due to take place next year. they say they want more of the burden of the spending cuts, the budget problems. they say it's not fair to expect ordinary working people, ordinary families to carry most of the load. the government says it needs to make these spending cuts in order to balance the budgets. it will be interesting to see where after the general strike the unions can take their protest if they wish to push their demands further. >> still ahead, the former u.s. vice president defend beau tall torture techniques. and from check out to check out, putting smiles on faces

>> welcome back. a recap of our top stories on al jazeera. an armed man it still holding an unknown number of people hostage inside of a cafe in the australian city of sydney. the police have surrounded the area and much of the business district has been brought to a standstill. thousands have adopted the #i'll ride with you. they're offering to company muslims fearing a backlash after the siege. nationwide strike in belgium has brought parts of the country to a standstill.

thousands of trade union are taking part in the stoppage which has caused flight and rail services to be canceled. libya biggest oil terminal has been brought down with fighting in tunisia. >> reporter: smoke rise ms. western libya. the sound of airstrikes echo for kilometers. where the battle is most fierce. on one side the so-called tribes army, the group aligned with the general haftar. >> today we lost 14 fighters and more 23 injured by the airstrikes by the enemy. they targeted a residential

area. >> reporter: with the country awash with powerful militia, rival governments in libya and tibruk, libya is in the heart of statelessness. at the heart, oil. and libya is sitting on the country's biggest oil terminal. fighting in this oil-reach region has forced terminals nearby to close. >> the attack on the oil region clearly shows that libyan dawn wants to be in fully in charge of the oil resources we need fond to sponsor their terrorist operations. just like other terrorist groups have done in other parts of the world. >> reporter: complicating matters further, the group has established a couple of the city. now plans to help libya dawn

fighters. al jazeera. >> former u.s. vice president dick cheney has again defended brutal interrogation techniques that the cia used during his time in office. cheney made no distinction between improved enhanced techniques and those that were beyond the white house had authorized. the comments came after the u.s. report on cia use of techniques around the world. >> reporter: facing tough questions over the cia's so-called enhanced interrogation techniques. new details have been coming out of the 500-plus page senate report about cia tactics in the wake of the attacks septembe september 11, 2001, prompting great debate. these details include descriptions of the tactics used like waterboarding, hanging people by their wrists, putting

them in coffin-sized boxes, and even a technique called rectal rehydration. they may sound torturous to the average person but dick cheney said that they did stop short of torture as defined by the justice department, and the report also outlines steps taken by the cia to stay within these guidelines, having medical personnel on hand, to make sure that they didn't overstep the bounds. former vice president dick cheney is unapologetic and stands by the techniques. >> well torture to me, chuck, is an american citizen on a cell phone making the last call to his four young daughters shortly before he burns to death in the upper levels of the trade center in new york city on 9/11. there is this notion there is more equivalent between what the terrorists did and what we do,

and that's not true. we were careful to stop short of torture. the senate has seen fit to label it torture but we were made sure to stop short that have definition. we did capture bin laden and others who were involved in that. i would do it again in a minute. >> while the report is causing great debate, it's unlikely that congress will move towards prosecution towards cia officials. seeing that the congress will be made up primarily of republicans in large part. we. >> we want to bring you an update on the sydney cafe siege. australian authorities have identified the hostage taker inside the lindt cafe, where

he's holding several people hostage still. this situation began around 9:45 local time. let's get the latest from andrew thomas, who joins us now from sydney. what do we know about this hostage taker? >> reporter: well, these reports are unconfirmed. the local media here in sydney is quoting a police source. it has not been officially confirmed but an unidentified police source of a man holding those hostage hostages hostages in a cafe is an iranian immigrant to australia. he has a track record of being in trouble in australia. in 2007-2008-2009, he was convicted of sensing offensive message, letters to the families

of dead australian soldiers killed in afghanistan. he was convicted of offensive letter-writing to them. more recently he has been charged with being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife, very serious charge as well. and very recently he has been charged with a number of sexual offenses that relate back to incidents about ten years ago when he claims to be a spiritual healer in sydney. that's what we know about a man, a man whose local media is claiming is the hostage taker inside that sydney cafe. as i said, that name of yet not officially confirmed. >> no confirmation yet of the australia police on the identity of the man. you know, it's late at night there. and it seems all very quiet. do we have any indication of

when this may unfold. is there anything to suggest at all that something might happen very soon? >> no, there isn't as yet. and the premiere of the state of new south wales saw a press conference. the message is for sydney to go about their schedule. now it's 1:00 in the morning in australia, so relatively quiet right now. we simply don't know what is going on, a, in the mind of the hostage taker, if he has any plans inside that cafe. and b, the police who have their weapons trained on this cafe. there are a lot of people ready to jump in to action if necessary. they may have their own plans to take the cafe overnight.

frankly, i don't think anybody is going to go on the press conference and give us aheads up on that. this siege could go on for a long time. even if he knows it's not going to go on that long, he would hardly say that at a press conference. just because it's quiet right now. it has been for some hours, it doesn't mean that it's not going to suddenly erupt and come to a conclusion. but the official line from the police and authorities here in australia is that they'll waste this one out. no one has been hurt so far. they want to keep it that way. they're determined to bring this to a peaceful resolution. >> a new development in the sydney cafe siege, australian media reporting that the police source has given them the identity of the has stage taker inside the lindt cafe. he is an ira iranian refugee

with a criminal pass. this man believed to be inside the cafe. we don't have independent confirmation of it. a lot of charges and a lot of allegations and the obvious question is why would he free, if there were all these charges against him. >> reporter: i'm sorry? >> he had all these charges against him. he was a free man. why was he not watched or under arrest, if you would. >> reporter: well, if it is confirmed, the man who has this history of conviction by the new southwest police, if it is

confirmed that it is him who have taken the hostages in the cafe in the middle of sydney, these are serious questions that would be asked in am coming days. why was he able to siege hostages in this cafe. we don't know for absolute certain that it is him in there. it should be said that while he has been convicted of sending these letters from now, that may have carried a sentence that he may have served. and the charge against him, the reports are that he was out in bail. so he was freed in the community but waiting for another court date. if it turns out to be him inside this cafe there are serious questions that will be asked. why was he out? why was he not watched nor carefully. >> it's important to point out that we don't have official

confirmation that this is, indeed, the man inside the cafe. this has been going on since 9:45 this morning. and exclusion zones have been set up around the cafe. a few hours ago australian officials were urging people to go about their normal business come tuesday morning. thursday morning. wednesday morning. >> reporter: if this does turn out to be some sort of--if this does turn out to be some sort of terrorist attack, quote/unquote, i use that word very guardedly, the motivation behind the tack is to spread terror. one of the things that officials are keen on insuring is that that does not happen. they will work towards normal lives to continue, and that the

siege is not satisfied in that way. as far as possible life in the city must continue if not in the immediate area of the cafe and siege. >> andrew thomas, thank you for that update. we have more news on our website at www.aljazeera.com. feeling down because they say no matter how much they hustle, they can't get ahead. paycheck to paycheck, it's inside story. ♪ hello, i am ray swarez. to understand the way