Australian PM says siege gunman had history of mental instability and extremism

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Tuesday the gunman behind the Sydney cafe siege was well known to authorities and had a history of mental instability. "The perpetrator was well known to both state and commonwealth authorities," Abbott told reporters in a brief press conference in Canberra. "He had a long history of violent crime, infatuation with extremism and mental instability." "These events do demonstrate that even a country as free, as open, as generous and as safe as ours is vulnerable to acts of politically motivated violence," Abbott said. A police source named the gunman as Man Haron Monis, an Iranian refugee and self-styled sheikh facing multiple charges of sexual assault as well as being an accessory to murder. (Reporting By Jane Wardell; Editing by Dean Yates)