The hostage-taker in the Sydney cafe siege has been identified as the self-styled “sheikh” Man Haron Monis. Below is a screenshot of his personal website, sheikhharon.com, which went offline shortly after his name was publicized. On his site, he refers to himself as “Sheikh Harun” and accuses “America and its allies including Australia” of terrorism. “Islam wants peace on the Earth, that’s why Muslims want to stop terrorism of America and its allies,” he writes.
The full web site is preserved below. WARNING: The page contains a graphic, disturbing image of dead children. (Vox has blocked their faces.)
Monis also references his conversion from Shia Islam (Monis immigrated to Australia in 1996 from Iran, a mostly Shia country) to Sunni Islam. He refers to himself as a former “rafidi,” an Arabic term for “one who rejects” that is typically used by Sunnis to denigrate Shias as non-Muslim. “I used to be a Rafidi, but not anymore. Now I am a Muslim, Alhamdu Lillah,” he writes. The page ends with a note: “This site is under maintenance.”
Here is an image of the site’s full front page:
