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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2017/jun/06/melbourne-siege-police-investigate-gunman-yacqub-khayres-terrorism-links-live
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| Version 4 | Version 5 |
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| Melbourne siege: Turnbull questions how Yacqub Khayre was on parole – live | Melbourne siege: Turnbull questions how Yacqub Khayre was on parole – live |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| 3.37am BST | |
| 03:37 | |
| Reports are emerging of the evacuation of a Virgin plane at Albury airport today. The circumstances of the evacuation remain unclear, but passengers were told to run from the plane as soon as it landed. | |
| AAP has filed this story: | |
| Passengers on a Virgin flight from Sydney to Albury have jumped from the plane onto the tarmac after being told by cabin crew to “get out and run, run, run” as soon as the plane landed. | |
| A passenger on the 8.05am flight told AAP that passengers were urgently evacuated as soon as the plane landed at Albury Airport on Tuesday morning. | |
| The doors of the plane were “ripped off” from the outside by authorities and passengers were told to leave their luggage and jump about 1.2 metres from the front exit onto the tarmac. | |
| A man who was a passenger on the 68-seater turboprop was arrested on the tarmac and taken away by police. | |
| NSW Police confirmed there had been an incident at the airport. | |
| “As soon as we landed the cabin crew started yelling ‘Get out, run, run, run’,” the passenger told AAP. | |
| He said the passengers were assembled on the tarmac and police then arrested a man wearing a red jacket and red hat. | |
| “The man didn’t seem to resist the arrest.” | |
| Police asked the passengers if anyone had any issues with the man and spoke to the people who had been seated near him. | |
| The arrested passenger was said to be calm throughout the flight and got up and went to the bathroom once. | |
| Michelle McNamara, who works for a car hire company in the airport terminal, said plainclothes police, uniformed officers, firefighters and ambulance crews closed off half the terminal during the operation. | |
| “It’s normally quiet, it’s Albury Airport,” she told AAP. | |
| “It’s a bit concerning. With all that’s happening in the world, it makes you think the worst.” | |
| Virgin has been contacted for comment. | |
| Updated | |
| at 3.40am BST | |
| 3.30am BST | |
| 03:30 | |
| Another colleague, Paul Karp, has been in Canberra listening to the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, speak about the attack. Turnbull has demanded to know why Khayre was released on parole in November, given his violent history, poor behaviour, and past links with terrorism. The language used by Turnbull is worth noting. | |
| Turnbull’s description of the attack as “Islamist terrorism” follows a push by conservatives including Tony Abbott, One Nation and the Australian Conservatives that Islam should be explicitly blamed for terrorist attacks by fundamentalist extremists. | |
| You can read the full story here. | |
| 3.26am BST | |
| 03:26 | |
| AAP have been at the scene of Khayre’s home in Roxburgh Park, where he lived with his mother. The street has been blocked off and police have set up tents as they search his home. | |
| Dozens of police are milling around the Roxburgh Park house, removing bags of evidence. | |
| Neighbour Icy Agustsson said the family mostly kept to themselves and he had no idea Khayre was a terror suspect. | |
| “I don’t talk to them much, people keep to themselves in this area,” Agustsson told reporters. | |
| “But it doesn’t worry me, you get used to it and see it on TV. (Police) have to do their job.” | |
| Khayre had been acquitted of charges over a 2009 plot to attack Holsworthy army base in western Sydney. | |
| “You don’t get shocked in this area. But no I had no idea (he’d been on terror charges),” Agustsson said. | |
| Updated | |
| at 3.28am BST | |
| 3.18am BST | |
| 03:18 | |
| My colleague, Ben Doherty, has delved into Khayre’s violent and criminal past. In one of his many court appearances, Justice George Hampel warned that Khayre had “gloomy prospects” for rehabilitation. | |
| In sentencing Khayre for a drug-affected violent home invasion in 2012 – during which he was on parole when he committed Monday’s attack – Justice Hampel said: | |
| “There is a real risk you will become even more isolated than you are now, institutionalised, and at increasingly high risk of reoffending. | |
| “You are now isolated from your family and community. There was no family at court to support you.” | |
| You can read the full story here. | |
| Updated | |
| at 3.28am BST | |
| 3.05am BST | |
| 03:05 | |
| What we know so far | |
| Investigations into the motivations of gunman Yacqub Khayre are still ongoing. Police are at his Roxburgh Park home, where he lived with his mother, and remain at the scene of the attack in Brighton. Here’s what’s known so far: | |
| Yacqub Khayre, 29, lured a woman to serviced apartments in Melbourne’s bayside suburb of Brighton, where he also shot a Chinese-born Australian man who was working for the complex. | |
| Police arrived at the scene, and Khayre emerged from the apartments with a sawn-off shotgun, firing at officers and injuring three. | |
| Khayre was shot dead. | |
| The woman was not injured, but is highly traumatised, according to police | |
| A man believed to be Khayre called Channel Seven and told them ‘this is for IS, this is for al-Qaida’. | |
| Islamic State have claimed responsibility for the attack, but police have cautioned against placing too much faith in the terror group’s statement. Khayre’s invoking of the names of both Isis and al-Qaida – rival groups – has raised scepticism about the level of their involvement. | |
| Khayre was charged but acquitted with a 2009 terrorist plot targeting Holsworthy barracks in NSW. That plot was linked with Somali jihadist group, al-Shabaab, and prosecutors alleged Khayre travelled to Somalia seeking a fatwa. | |
| Police say there is so far no evidence that Khayre was acting with others in the Melbourne attack. | |
| He was out on parole for other violent offences at the time of the attack, and prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has demanded to know why. Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has maintained the state has the toughest parole review system in the country. | |
| Turnbull has flagged he will push for changes to parole and bail laws at Coag. | |
| Khayre had a long and violent criminal history. He was in jail until November last year, when he was released on parole. His time in custody had been extended after he committed further crimes behind bars. | |
| Khayre has been known to counter-terrorism investigators since 2009, but Victorian police say there was nothing to suggest he was a heightened risk at the time of the attack. It is unclear whether it was planned or spontaneous, police say. | |
| Updated | |
| at 3.09am BST | |
| 2.20am BST | 2.20am BST |
| 02:20 | 02:20 |
| Some more pictures are emerging from the scene on Bay Street in Melbourne this morning. | Some more pictures are emerging from the scene on Bay Street in Melbourne this morning. |
| 2.15am BST | 2.15am BST |
| 02:15 | 02:15 |
| The Prime Minister responds to the terror attack in Melbourne. pic.twitter.com/NiF185cDuV | The Prime Minister responds to the terror attack in Melbourne. pic.twitter.com/NiF185cDuV |
| 2.06am BST | 2.06am BST |
| 02:06 | 02:06 |
| Police were still at the scene of the siege at the Buckingham serviced apartments on Bay Street in Brighton this morning. They sent devices to detect explosives down the driveway alongside the complex. | Police were still at the scene of the siege at the Buckingham serviced apartments on Bay Street in Brighton this morning. They sent devices to detect explosives down the driveway alongside the complex. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 2.12am BST | at 2.12am BST |
| 1.48am BST | 1.48am BST |
| 01:48 | 01:48 |
| A Victorian supreme court sentencing from 2011 linked the Holsworthy army barracks terrorist plot to al-Shabaab, a Somali jihadist group that has pledged support to al-Qaida. | A Victorian supreme court sentencing from 2011 linked the Holsworthy army barracks terrorist plot to al-Shabaab, a Somali jihadist group that has pledged support to al-Qaida. |
| Khayre was acquitted of that plot, and was not sentenced. But the sentencing remarks refer to a trip he took to Somalia. Prosecutors alleged he did so for the purposes of obtaining a fatwa from Muslim clerics. | Khayre was acquitted of that plot, and was not sentenced. But the sentencing remarks refer to a trip he took to Somalia. Prosecutors alleged he did so for the purposes of obtaining a fatwa from Muslim clerics. |
| “The activity undertaken by Khayre , of leaving Melbourne, going to Somalia, the crown allege, that he was in fact going there to seek a fatwa,” Justice Betty King said. | “The activity undertaken by Khayre , of leaving Melbourne, going to Somalia, the crown allege, that he was in fact going there to seek a fatwa,” Justice Betty King said. |
| “He was to seek it personally, by his presence in Somalia. The jury found that Khayre was not guilty, in respect of this offence, and accordingly I will not act upon the basis that he was any part of the conspiracy, or that his actions formed any part of the conspiracy.” | “He was to seek it personally, by his presence in Somalia. The jury found that Khayre was not guilty, in respect of this offence, and accordingly I will not act upon the basis that he was any part of the conspiracy, or that his actions formed any part of the conspiracy.” |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 1.54am BST | at 1.54am BST |
| 1.18am BST | 1.18am BST |
| 01:18 | 01:18 |
| The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, has just issued a statement condemning the attack. | The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, has just issued a statement condemning the attack. |
| “We have been suddenly and viciously reminded that Australians are not immune from terrorist attacks, both at home and abroad,” he said. “On behalf of the federal opposition, I offer my condolences to the family of the innocent man murdered yesterday.” | “We have been suddenly and viciously reminded that Australians are not immune from terrorist attacks, both at home and abroad,” he said. “On behalf of the federal opposition, I offer my condolences to the family of the innocent man murdered yesterday.” |
| Shorten praised the police response and wished the injured officers a speedy recovery. He said Australia needed to heed any lessons from the attack, raising the issue of tougher bail laws. Khayre was on parole, not bail. | Shorten praised the police response and wished the injured officers a speedy recovery. He said Australia needed to heed any lessons from the attack, raising the issue of tougher bail laws. Khayre was on parole, not bail. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 1.27am BST | at 1.27am BST |
| 1.09am BST | 1.09am BST |
| 01:09 | 01:09 |
| The former prime minister Tony Abbott has been on 2GB radio this morning discussing counter-terrorism strategies. He has called for further efforts to destroy the Islamic State caliphate. | The former prime minister Tony Abbott has been on 2GB radio this morning discussing counter-terrorism strategies. He has called for further efforts to destroy the Islamic State caliphate. |
| “The first step is to redouble our efforts to crush the so-called caliphate in the Middle East,” Abbott said. | “The first step is to redouble our efforts to crush the so-called caliphate in the Middle East,” Abbott said. |
| “The second step is to redouble our efforts to ensure no returning jihadists are loose on our streets and the third step is to take much more vigorous measures to close down these centres of hate preaching.” | “The second step is to redouble our efforts to ensure no returning jihadists are loose on our streets and the third step is to take much more vigorous measures to close down these centres of hate preaching.” |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 1.27am BST | at 1.27am BST |