Sydney siege hostage's chilling video plea
Hostages holed up in the Lindt Cafe made chilling video pleas to Tony Abbott from the gunman yesterday.
In the videos, one hostage urges Tony Abbott to give the gunman an IS flag and in response he will release one hostage.
She also asks for the 'other brothers' not to explode the other bombs in the Sydney CBD, saying there are four bombs in all.
The other request is for Tony Abbott to contact 'a brother', and he will release five hostages.
"We don't understand why these demands haven't been met, they are not unreasonable," she urges.
"He's only asking for a flag and a phone call and that's it."
There are a multitude of videos with similar requests and are also echoed by demands that emerged on social media yesterday.
Marcia Mikhael wrote on her Facebook account yesterday outlining the demands from the gunman.
The Facebook post garnered a large amount of social media attention including it being tweeted by family members.
@nswpolice #SydneySiege Please Help that is my untie Marcia Mikhael she is currently being hostage pic.twitter.com/YhVvzOiI5E
— GDO (@GhioDeOliveira) December 15, 2014
42-year-old Marcia is a fitness company owner and a Westpac executive.
Later, her worried family members urged the public not to share her Facebook message.
“Please do not share any statuses on (Facebook) from the hostages,” her worried niece Christine Mikhael wrote.
“Please do not share or spread any messages released by the hostages as the terrorist is using them as a means of communication.
“This could put my aunty and the others in grave danger.”
This morning, Marcia was carried on the shoulders of emergency services personnel as she emerged from the Lindt Cafe.
She was visibly hurt and was taken to a waiting ambulance.
On her Facebook page, comments on a recent profile picture had turned into a wall of support from the Australian public.
One person wrote: "I can not imagine the ordeal you and many others endured! Sending love in this difficult time and I hope you come out an even stronger woman at the end of all of this."
Another: "We are strangers by face, but share this beautiful city, my heart goes out to you, I'm so glad to hear your safe, and I pray you stay strong in the next few months."
Her family have praised the bravery of NSW police who rescued Marcia.
"Thank you God for bringing her out alive!" a relative Amal Helen Mikhael wrote on Facebook.
Amal Helen Mikhael said Ms Mikhael was in hospital but was not seriously injured.
"Such bravery from the police who risked their own lives to save others," she wrote.
"God bless these heroes."
Ms Mikhael's niece Joanne Mikhael said: "Our prayers have been answered."
Tributes flow in for hostages
Bouquets of flowers and tributes have started at the site of the Lindt Cafe siege that ended in the death of two hostages.
Lindt Cafe have released a statement, saying: "Our thoughts and feelings are with the victims and their families who have been through an incredible ordeal, and we want to pay tribute to their courage and bravery."
Steven Loane, CEO Lindt & Sprüngli in Australia says: “Lindt & Sprüngli will provide any support to the victims and their families, and indeed to all our employees affected by this event. We are grateful for the support we received from the public in Australia and from all around the world.”
