Matthew Knott Communications and education correspondent
December 30, 2014 - 1:20PM
Lindt Cafe gunman Islamic State poster boy
Man Haron Monis has been hailed a hero by an Islamic State propaganda magazine for his actions during the siege in which two hostages were killed.
Islamic State magazine aims to inspire
Sydney siege gunman Man Haron Monis features prominently in newly released Islamic State propaganda material which urges would-be terrorists to mimic his "daring raid" on the Lindt cafe in Martin Place.
In the foreword to the sixth edition of Dabiq, Islamic State's official English-language magazine, the terrorist group says Monis' actions "brought terror to the entire nation" and erased his history of "shirk and transgression".
Man Haron Monis was selected for special praise in the latest edition of an Islamic State propaganda magazine. Photo: Nick Ralston
Islamic State uses Dabiq as an important recruitment and propaganda tool.
"This month, an attack was carried out in Sydney by Man Haron Monis, a Muslim who resolved to join the mujahidin of the Islamic State in their war against the crusader coalition," the magazine's foreword says.
"He did not do so by undertaking the journey to the lands of the Khilāfah and fighting side-by-side with his brothers but rather, by acting alone and striking the kuffār [non-believers] where it would hurt them most – in their own lands and on the very streets that they presumptively walk in safety.
"It didn't take much; he got hold of a gun and stormed a cafe taking everyone inside hostage. Yet in doing so, he prompted mass panic, brought terror to the entire nation, and triggered an evacuation of parts of Sydney's central business district. The blessings in his efforts were apparent from the very outset."
The foreword continues: "After a lengthy standoff, brother Man Haron Monis was killed. His daring raid ended with two kāfir hostages dead, and four others wounded, including a police officer. Thus, he added his name to the list of Muslims who answered the Khilāfah's call to strike those waging war against the Islamic State wherever they may be, and thereby has his past history of shirk and transgression completely erased..."
The magazine features a full-page colour photograph of Monis and contains quotes attributed to him on his conversion from Shia to Sunni Islam.
Past editions of Dabiq, which is named after a town in Syria, urged would-be jihadists to keep their plots small and their strategies simple, involving as few people as possible.
"At this point of the crusade against the Islamic State, it is very important that attacks take place in every country that has entered into the alliance against the Islamic State, especially the US, UK, France, Australia and Germany," the fourth edition urged.
"The citizens of crusader nations should be targeted wherever they can be found."
The latest edition of al-Qaeda-produced magazine Inspire, also released this week, claimed Monis took hostages in the Lindt cafe after his "peaceful protests" failed and called on extremists to carry out attacks on US soil.
"After years of peaceful protest in Australia, a... Muslim takes dozens of hostages in a cafe for 16 hours," it reads.
"Mr Abott [sic] you should have known by now that peace and security is a two-way equation."
John Blaxland, a senior fellow at the Australian National University's Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, said the fact Islamist terrorist groups had resorted to appealing to "unhinged" individuals to conduct lone-wolf attacks demonstrated they had been weakened since the September 11 and Bali bombing attacks.
"There is a lot of hysteria about the nature and scope of the threat [of Islamic State]," he said.
"They can manipulate people to act as lone wolves but they do not pose an existential threat to Australia."
Sydney siege gunman Man Haron Monis glorified in Islamic State propaganda magazine Dabiq
