Oz's Lindt Chocolate Cafe Hostage Situation

A Lindt Chocolate Cafe is the focus of a terrorist hostage situation in Oz. The exact filming location of some of the scenes in Matrix are where this event is occurring.

A major police operation was under way on what is Monday morning, December 15, 2014, at the Lindt Chocolate Cafe, on the corner of Elizabeth Street and Martin Place, Sydney, Australia.

An armed man was filmed with black headband with Arabic writing (see below). A black Arab flag was seen flying inside the cafe. Witnesses described seeing cafe staff and shoppers pinned up against the building’s front window, with their arms raised and a black and white Islamic flag in the window (as shown at top).

As many as 13 hostages were being held in the Lindt Cafe. At least two gunmen took over cafe just before 10 a.m. Customers and staff locked in David Jones in Elizabeth Street. Davy Jones' Locker, also Davy Jones's Locker, is an idiom for the bottom of the sea: the state of death among drowned sailors and shipwrecks.

It is believed six Black Hawk helicopters with troops on board are headed to the city. Castlereagh Street is swarming with hundreds of shocked onlookers and media personnel.

Lindt & Sprüngli AG, more commonly known as Lindt, is a Swiss chocolate and confectionery company, dating back to 1845. Rudolf Lindt, (July 16, 1855 – February 20, 1909) was a Swiss chocolate manufacturer and inventor.

Lindt has opened eight chocolate cafes in Australia, four in Sydney and four in Melbourne. The first one opened in 2004 at Martin Place in Sydney.

The name Lindt is derived from the Upper German word lind, which means "tender," "gentle hearted." The similar phonetic name Linde comes from "Linden," which is a type of tree. It is generally known as a sacred, hallowed tree in Slavic and Germanic cultures, and in England is called a "lime tree."

The symbol found on the logo is of a dragon.

Imprinted on individual chocolates is the logo's dragon. But, intriguing, turned...

...upside down, the head of the dragon looks like a machine gun. This was discovered and noted here, and mentioned in a blog in 2012.

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A rundown of the current breaking news follows. First, a bit of history:

In September 2014, the Australian Federal Police made "a host of arrests after allegedly uncovering a plot to abduct a random Australian and execute them by beheading in a public place, possibly Martin Place and post the act on social media."

Source.

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