The perpetrator of the hostage situation in Sydney has been identified, and it was 49 year old Iranian Man Haron Monis.

According to reports, the 49 year old who was holding several hostages at Lindt cafe is a hardline Muslim cleric and wass well known to New South Wales police.

He caught the eye of local authorities, when months ago, he sent letters laced with poison to the families of three dead Australian soldiers, while a year ago, he was accused of aiding in the murder of his former wife and mother of his two children, who was found dead after being stabbed with a knife. For that murder, former partner of the cleric Amira Druddis,  was found guilty.

He was sentenced to 300 hours community service for sending “insulting letters” with the aid of his then partner.

According to him, these letters was his version of “a basket of flowers” or a “condolence card”. He became widely known when he launched a hate campaign on the presence of Australian troops in Afghanistan.

In 2002, Man Haron Monis was accused of sexually harassing a Sydney woman which he approached arguing that he is a “spiritual healer”, something which he also used to advertise in a local newspaper.

Indeed, he claimed to be an expert in astrology, numerology and black magic.

After uncovering the sexual assault case, 40 more of his victims contacted police.

However, he posted on the Internet stating that the charges were a conspiracy against him.

Meanwhile, his Facebook page was removed a few hours after the hostage-taking. He had, until then, around 14,000 likes. He had abandoned Iran for Australian in 1996.