Gunman’s phone may have pinged in area with a history of extremism: source
In Davao City, Sajid Akram visited a small gun shop a few hundred metres from the hotel, a staff member said. She told this masthead that Akram stood side-on to her, looking at pictures of guns on the wall and at a display cabinet with protective vests. He was memorable to the staff member because he did not respond when asked if there was anything she could help him with.
The men are also believed to have visited a resort, about seven kilometres from their hotel, and an Islamic centre called Mercy Islamic Foundation (MIF), about 2.5 kilometres from the hotel.
MIF president Sheikh Mohammed Habeb Al-Khulaqi said it was impossible to know if the Akrams visited because as many as 600 worshippers turned up at Friday prayers. But he said the centre had turned over all of its CCTV footage to investigators and wanted to help in any way it could.
“We are one team,” he said. “There is no mercy for these kinds of people. Muslim or non-Muslim, they are a cancer on this country.”
Sheikh Al-Khulaqi said violent extremists in Mindanao did not accept MIF as legitimate because its documents and permits were registered by “non-believers” in Davao’s Catholic-majority town hall.
Philippine authorities confirmed one line of inquiry, first reported by News Corp, that investigators were looking at the movements of two other Sydney men whose trip to Davao City overlapped with part of the Akrams’ stay. However, no red flags had yet been discovered, and the Akrams and the other Sydney pair might have been, and remained, strangers.
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A Philippine National Police spokeswoman said there was not yet any evidence to back up a report in international media that suggested the Akrams visited a town called Panabo, about 30 kilometres from Davao City.
Muslimin Sema, chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front, an Islamic separatist group that signed a peace agreement with Manila in 1996, said it was a “national concern” if the Akrams had been helped in their deadly endeavours while in the Philippines.
“If there were meetings like that, they would be hidden from the public. It is possible,” he said. “We must ensure that even if people with such thinking come here, they do not find individuals who harbour grievances against the government.”
Bondi Beach incident helplines:
- Bondi Beach Victim Services on 1800 411 822
- Bondi Beach Public Information & Enquiry Centre on 1800 227 228
- NSW Mental Health Line on 1800 011 511 or Lifeline on 13 11 14
- Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 or chat online at kidshelpline.com.au
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