悉尼主要商業區發生人質劫持事件

Police cordoned off one of Sydney’s main business districts on Monday morning following reports that a gunman waving an Islamic flag was holding customers and staff hostage in a café.

澳大利亞警方週一早晨在悉尼一主要商業區實施戒嚴，此前有報道稱，一名揮舞伊斯蘭旗幟的持槍男子在一家咖啡館內劫持了裏面的顧客和員工。

Live television pictures broadcast by Australia’s Seven Network showed a staff member and a customer in the Lindt café with their hands pressed against the window and a black flag with Arabic writing being waved in the background.

澳大利亞Seven Network播放的電視直播畫面顯示，林德咖啡館(Lindt café)的一名員工和一名顧客雙手緊貼窗戶，手裏舉着一面寫有阿拉伯文的黑色旗幟。

“There is a police operation under way at Martin Place and we are asking people to avoid the area,” said the New South Wales police.

新南威爾士警局表示：“警方正在馬丁廣場(Martin Place)展開行動，我們正要求人們不要進入該地區。”

Heavily armed police surrounded the café and rescue workers were erecting ladders on the side of a nearby building, possibly to evacuate people still on upper floors.

全副武裝的警察包圍了這家咖啡館，營救人員在臨近一座大樓的一側架設梯子，可能要疏散仍在較高樓層的人員。

Hundreds of onlookers gathered a few hundred metres away behind a police cordon. Many of them were evacuated from nearby buildings as the area around the siege was shut down by police.

在警方設置的警戒線以外數百米的地方，聚集着數百名圍觀者。很多人是從附近的大樓撤離的，目前被包圍地區已被警方封鎖。

Stephen Tunley, who runs a funds management business in a nearby building, said people clogged the fire escape as they tried to evacuate.

在附近寫字樓中經營一家基金管理公司的斯蒂芬•滕利(Stephen Tunley)表示，人們在試圖撤離時全都擠在了安全梯那裏。

“I’m not that surprised — it was obvious something like this would happen before Christmas given what has been happening here recently,” he said. “How we respond to this will matter — we shouldn’t exclude people.”

“我並不感到意外，根據最近的形勢，類似的事情顯然會在聖誕節前發生，”他說道，“我們的反應很重要，我們不應排斥其他人。”

The café siege follows warnings from politicians and police that radical Islamic terrorists posed a threat to security in Australia, which has joined a US-led coalition fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq.

此前，政治人士和警方警告稱，伊斯蘭恐怖分子對澳大利亞的安全構成威脅，澳大利亞已加入一個以美國爲首的聯盟，以打擊伊拉克的"伊斯蘭國"武裝人員。

In September, Canberra raised the threat level for a terrorist attack from medium to high, meaning an attack was considered likely. A week later Australian police said they had thwarted a plan by Islamist radicals to kidnap a person at random from the streets of Sydney and behead them in an attack linked to fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as Isis, in Iraq.

今年9月，澳大利亞將其恐怖襲擊威脅級別從中級提升至高級，這意味着，恐怖襲擊有可能發生。一週後，澳大利亞警方表示，他們挫敗了一個伊斯蘭激進分子的計劃，他們原本準備在悉尼街道隨機劫持人質並將他們砍頭，該次襲擊與伊拉克“伊拉克與黎凡特伊斯蘭國”(Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant，簡稱Isis)武裝人員有關。

Tony Abbott, Australia’s prime minister, published a short statement in which he said he was in contact with NSW premier Mike Baird, and that the National Security Committee had convened for briefings on the situation.

澳大利亞總理託尼•阿博特(Tony Abbott)發表了一份簡短聲明，他表示，正與新南威爾士州州長邁克•貝爾德(Mike Baird)接洽，國家安全委員會(National Security Committee)已召開會議聽取有關形勢的簡報。

“This is obviously a deeply concerning incident but all Australians should be reassured that our law enforcement and security agencies are well trained and equipped and are responding in a thorough and professional manner,” said Mr Abbott. “We will provide regular updates as further information becomes available.”

“此次事件顯然事關重大，但是所有澳大利亞人都應相信，我們的執法部門和安全機構都是訓練有素且裝備精良的，並在以周密且專業的方式應對這一事件，”阿博特表示，“一旦獲得進一步的信息，我們將定期提供最新消息。”

Australian officials estimate that about 160 Australians are assisting terrorist groups in the Middle East, and parliament has recently passed a swathe of tough new anti-terrorist laws.

澳大利亞官員估計，約有160名澳大利亞人正在協助中東的恐怖組織，澳大利亞議會最近新通過了一系列嚴格的反恐法律。

Martin Place is one of the main areas in Sydney’s business district and is home to the Reserve Bank of Australia, commercial banks and the Seven Network. The New South Wales parliament is nearby.

馬丁廣場是悉尼商業區主要區域之一，澳大利亞央行(RBA)、商業銀行以及Seven Network都位於這裏。新南威爾士議會就在附近。

Additional reporting by Patrick McGee in Hong Kong

帕特里克•麥吉(Patrick McGee)香港補充報道