WATCH: The Moment When Police Stormed the Sydney Cafe

Police stormed the cafe in central Sydney where a gunman held hostages for more than 16 hours

Police moved in firing automatic weapons and throwing grenades as hostages were seen fleeing in terror from the cafe

Live TV footage showed hostages running frantically from the cafe at shortly after 2am in small groups 

It came hours after Man Haron Monis was named as the gunman holding people hostage in a Sydney café

The 49-year-old man lives in southwest Sydney, but is originally from Iran and a self-proclaimed sheik 

He was charged with accessory in the murder of his ex-wife - who was allegedly stabbed and set on fire on a flight of stairs in her western Sydney apartment block

He was also arrested for the sexual assault of a 27-year-old woman in 2002 in April this year after luring her to his clinic following claims he was as 'spiritual healer' 

Monis was slapped with an additional 40 charges in October after more victims to come forward 

Monis received 300 community service hours for sending hate mail to the families of Australian dead soldiers

The seige follows an unsuccessful attempt to have these charges overturned in the High Court on Friday   

He stormed the Lindt cafe in Martin Place during the morning rush hour on Monday stopped anyone fro

He forced hostages to hold up black flag with white writing in Arabic, an emblem linked to terror groups