Australian media gives wide coverage to Sydney siege

SYDNEY: Australian media today splashed reports of the deadly cafe siege here on the front pages, displaying pictures of the 17-hour-long hostage crisis saying 'terror grips Sydney'.

Leading newspapers and media channels closely monitored and covered the entire event back to back from the time it started to unfold at around 9.45 am (local time) yesterday.

Sydney Morning Herald reported news under headlines like ' Sydney Siege: Man with Gun and Flag' sparks a terrifying standoff in Martin Place Cafe and Martin Place Siege.

Herald Sun ran a special edition which had a full blown picture of a hostage being carried by police with a headline "Free - a 16 hours siege with self styled Islamic state preaches Sheik Man Haron ended in gunfire this morning after heavily-armed police stormed a Sydney Cafe and Freed Hostages."

Australian Financial Review also had a full blown image with a headline "Islamic State link terror group Sydney".

The Australian' newspaper labelled the news as 'Hostages' night of horror while the Age dubbed it as 'Terror Grips Sydney'.

An evening MX newspaper also ran the cafe story as 'City cafe terror.'

A 17-hour-long hostage drama in which a lone heavily-armed man of Iranian-origin held 17 people hostage at a cafe here ended late tonight with the police storming it, resulting in three deaths but two Indians who were among the captives escaped safely.