Man Haron Monis is notorious in Australia for sending abusive letters to family members of soldiers killed in Afghanistan. The man who took up to 20 people hostage in a Sydney cafe has been named as Iranian refugee Man Haron Monis, aged 49.
Sydney police said the self-styled Sheikh - who raised a flag with Arabic writing similar to that used by Islamic State and placed human shield in the window before police officers moved into the building - was well-known to them.
It was later revealed he had died in the confrontation with police after shooting one of his hostages.
An image of Monis protesting in 2009
"The list of charges against the Sheikh are extremely long and extremely worrying," she said.
He is believed to be currently on bail for 47 sexual assaults.
Ms Walsh added: "He's a very secretive man on a personal level, but he is notorious for his acts of violence."
Monis moved to Australia in 1996 from Iran.
He is notorious in Australia for sending abusive letters to family members of soldiers killed in Afghanistan and was sentenced to 300 hours of community service for this.
He was later charged with being an accessory in the murder of his ex-wife.
Monis operated a website which was taken down shortly after he was named as the hostage-taker in the media.
In a letter on the site, which he signed Sheikh Haron, he accused the US, Britain and Australia of "oppression and terrorism" alongside images of dead children.
He also called for non-violent activism.
"Islam is the religion of peace and a Muslim should be a peace activist," Monis wrote.
"Islam is against oppression and any unfair violence. Islam is against terrorism. As I have repeatedly said earlier: 'this pen is my gun and these words are my bullets, I fight by these weapons against oppression to promote peace'."
Sky's foreign affairs editor Sam Kiley said Monis may have a "fetish for self-publicity" which could have proved "useful to the hostage negotiators".
He added that Monis was a "fantasist" with a "really very chaotic background".
His former lawyer Manny Condits said he believed that Monis was acting alone.
"This is a one-off random individual. It's not a concerted terrorism event or act. It's a damaged goods individual who's done something outrageous," he said.
"His ideology is just so strong and so powerful that it clouds his vision for common sense and objectiveness."
A banner held up by hostages in a Sydney cafe is examined for clues as to what has motivated the hostage-taking.
The banner was pressed against the window
A black flag bearing Arabic script held up
at a cafe in central Sydney has become the subject of worldwide
scrutiny for the clues it might yield to the motivation behind the
hostage-taking.
The distinctive banner was held up to the window by people inside the Lindt chocolate cafe, where a gunman has taken an unknown number of hostages.
Its white-on-black lettering resembles that seen on flags flown by Islamic State (IS), the murderous faction which has conquered swathes of territory across Iraq and Syria in recent months, and other Islamist terror organisations such as al Qaeda.
A black flag with white lettering inside the cafe
Dr Matthew Gray, from the Centre of Arabic and Islamic Studies in Canberra, said he believed it to be the Shahada, or declaration of faith.
He said it was similar but not identical to that used by IS.
"It's based around a black flag with white text that supposedly the Prophet Muhammad would carry, including into battle when he was fighting on behalf of the religion," Dr Gray told Sky News.
"This banner takes different forms. It looks vaguely like the IS flag.
"The one we're seeing in the window is a little bit different. The IS flag has just the beginning of the Shahada at the top, whereas this one has what looks to me like it could have the full Shahada, the full declaration of faith on the bottom of the flag.
"The text translates to 'There's no God except Allah and Muhammad is his prophet.' This is the first fundamental tenet of Islam. It's what you say to convert to Islam and at prayer time.
"It's a standard statement but when it's used in this context it's got a more military connotation. There are various groups that use a variety of this flag.
"It's got that connotation of the bearer of the flag marching into war."
The statement is considered the first of Islam's five pillars of faith.
The script is not clear enough to make out exactly what it says, but some Arabic speakers on social media claimed it also mentioned the word 'Muhammad' and words pledging allegiance to Islam.
As well as the flag held up by customers, another Arabic flag has been seen inside the cafe.
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