Sydney crisis: Hostage-taker named as Iranian refugee with criminal past

Sydney: An Iranian refugee convicted of sexual assault and known for sending hate letters to the families of Australian soldiers killed overseas is the armed man holding an unknown number of hostages in a Sydney cafe, a police source said on Tuesday.

Man Haron Monis, an Iranian refugee and self-styled sheikh, remained holed up in the cafe some 15 hours after the siege began.

"There's no operational reason for that name to be held back by us now," said the police source, who declined to be identified.