Iran Tried To Extradite Sydney Siege Gunman

Tehran had warned Australia of the record of the Iranian refugee who held 17 people hostage in a Sydney café before being killed Tuesday in a police operation, Iran's national police chief said Tuesday.



Iran's official news agency, IRNA, "ed Gen. Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam as saying in a statement that Iranian-born Man Haron Monis had sought political asylum in Australia in 1996 and that he had a history of religious extremism.



Moghaddam said that the Iranian police had tried to extradite Monis, but Australia had refused to deliver him because there was no extradition agreement between the two countries.



The police chief also stated that Iran was ready to join Australia in the investigation of the refugee.



Monis, 49, moved to Australia as a refugee in 1996 and gained notoriety for sending offensive letters to the families of Australian soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan between 2007 and 2009, accusing them of being murderers.



In November 2013, he was charged with being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife, who was reportedly stabbed and set on fire, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.



After his arrest this April over his alleged sexual assault of a woman in Sydney in 2002, 40 additional charges were filed against Monis as other victims came forward.



Last Friday, he failed to have the charges regarding the letters to soldiers' families dropped, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.



Monis was killed after taking dozens of people hostage for 17 hours in Sydney. Two hostages were also killed.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Ankara