悉尼主要商业区发生人质劫持事件

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.

澳大利亚警方周一早晨在悉尼一主要商业区实施戒严，此前有报道称，一名挥舞伊斯兰旗帜的持枪男子在一家咖啡馆内劫持了里面的顾客和员工。

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.

澳大利亚Seven Network播放的电视直播画面显示，林德咖啡馆(Lindt café)的一名员工和一名顾客双手紧贴窗户，手里举着一面写有阿拉伯文的黑色旗帜。

“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.

新南威尔士警局表示：“警方正在马丁广场(Martin Place)展开行动，我们正要求人们不要进入该地区。”

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.

全副武装的警察包围了这家咖啡馆，营救人员在临近一座大楼的一侧架设梯子，可能要疏散仍在较高楼层的人员。

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.

在警方设置的警戒线以外数百米的地方，聚集着数百名围观者。很多人是从附近的大楼撤离的，目前被包围地区已被警方封锁。

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

在附近写字楼中经营一家基金管理公司的斯蒂芬•滕利(Stephen Tunley)表示，人们在试图撤离时全都挤在了安全梯那里。

“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.”

“我并不感到意外，根据最近的形势，类似的事情显然会在圣诞节前发生，”他说道，“我们的反应很重要，我们不应排斥其他人。”

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称，伊斯兰恐怖分子对澳大利亚的安全构成威胁，澳大利亚已加入一个以美国为首的联盟，以打击伊拉克的"伊斯兰国"武装人员。

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，澳大利亚将其恐怖袭击威胁级别从中级提升至高级，这意味着，恐怖袭击有可能发生。一周后，澳大利亚警方表示，他们挫败了一个伊斯兰激进分子的计划，他们原本准备在悉尼街道随机劫持人质并将他们砍头，该次袭击与伊拉克“伊拉克与黎凡特伊斯兰国”(Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant，简称Isis)武装人员有关。

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.

澳大利亚总理托尼•阿博特(Tony Abbott)发表了一份简短声明，他表示，正与新南威尔士州州长迈克•贝尔德(Mike Baird)接洽，国家安全委员会(National Security Committee)已召开会议听取有关形势的简报。

“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.”

“此次事件显然事关重大，但是所有澳大利亚人都应相信，我们的执法部门和安全机构都是训练有素且装备精良的，并在以周密且专业的方式应对这一事件，”阿博特表示，“一旦获得进一步的信息，我们将定期提供最新消息。”

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.

澳大利亚官员估计，约有160名澳大利亚人正在协助中东的恐怖组织，澳大利亚议会最近新通过了一系列严格的反恐法律。

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.

马丁广场是悉尼商业区主要区域之一，澳大利亚央行(RBA)、商业银行以及Seven Network都位于这里。新南威尔士议会就在附近。

Additional reporting by Patrick McGee in Hong Kong

帕特里克•麦吉(Patrick McGee)香港补充报道