What’s an innocent man doing with this weapon?

David Hicks has welcomed a US court decision to clear him of terror related charges.

David Hicks is now a free man and has been cleared of a terrorism conviction. Source: News Limited

A SELF-PROCLAIMED 'loudmouth' former Guantanamo Bay prison guard says Australian David Hicks will never get back the years he spent at the infamous detention centre, and he will never forget the torture he endured.

Brandon Neely, an outspoken American who guarded prisoners at 'Gitmo' in 2002, said the same government which told him Hicks was a "ruthless killer" 13 years ago has now admitted he was innocent.

Hicks, 39, had his 2007 terrorism conviction struck down on Wednesday by the US Court of Military Commission Review.

He is a free man, but can we ever really call him "innocent"?

THE PHOTOGRAPH AUSTRALIANS WILL NEVER FORGET

Hicks aims an RPG-7 rocket propelled grenade launcher. Picture: AFP Source: News Corp Australia

In 1999, Hicks was pictured cradling a grenade launcher on his right shoulder.

At the time, he was training with the Kosovo Liberation Army and the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan. Two years later, when planes crashed in to the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, Hicks travelled to Afghanistan.

He wasn't heavily involved in any conflict and his only real involvement is thought to have been the guarding of a Taliban tank near the Kandahar airport. He was captured a short time later and turned over to US forces before being shipped to Guantanamo.

He was accused of providing material support to terrorism, and admitted to training with al-Qaeda and meeting Osama bin Laden. That testimony would form part of a controversial guilty plea that many, including Neely, said was delivered under duress.

Hicks entered what is known as an Alford Plea, a guilty plea where a defendant admits that the evidence the prosecution could use would likely persuade a judge or a jury to find him guilty. Hicks's lawyers said he accepted the plea bargain because he was desperate to be released from Guantanamo. Neely agreed.

"There's a saying that goes: the best way out of Guantanamo is to plead guilty to something you didn't do," Neely said.

Former Guantanamo Bay prison guard Brandon Neely said the Hicks' ruling is long overdue. Source: News Corp Australia

Despite today's ruling, Hicks may never be considered "innocent". Associate Editor at The Australian, Chris Kenny, who was on the staff of then-foreign minister Alexander Downer during the majority of Hicks's incarceration, wrote this week that the former chicken-processing worker was "decidedly no innocent abroad".

"He was on the battlefield in Afghanistan with Taliban and al-Qaeda forces who were at that time engaged in what was, effectively, a war against the West," Kenny wrote.

"His terrorist training was extensive, including the operation of high-powered sniper rifles, shoulder-mounted anti-aircraft missiles, urban warfare tactics and surveillance techniques. Having converted to Islam, Hicks became a committed jihadist who wanted to 'go fighting in the way of God against the friends of Satan'. And there was no doubt about who the enemies were."

Today, former Prime Minister John Howard echoed those sentiments.

"The US verdict is about the legal process in that country," Mr Howard said in a statement.

"Nothing alters the fact that by his own admission, Hicks trained with al-Qaeda, met Osama bin Laden on several occasions - describing him as a brother. He revelled in Jihad."

David Hicks at the launch of The Justice Campaign in 2011. Picture: Tracey Nearmy / AAP Source: Getty Images

In an interview with news.com.au, Neely said Hicks was innocent but looked guilty.

"I believe David was in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said.

"I have spoken to David many times over the years since his release and I consider David a friend and I hope now that he can finally find some peace in his life. Even though today David's name is finally clear it will never make up for the years he spent at Guantanamo and the torture he endured."

HIS ARRIVAL AT GUANTANAMO

Guantanamo Bay is picturesque at sunset but a tough place for prisoners. Picture: Michelle Shephard / Toronto Star Source: AP

Neely said he was one of two guards to have greeted Hicks when he arrived at Guantanamo Bay. He said he was covered in sweat and not at all like the person who had been described.

In a video created for the launch of The Justice Campaign — a website dedicated to "transparency and fairness for David Hicks" — Neely said the Australian was terrified.

"We were told he was extremely dangerous. When the buses arrived that day and the detainees started to get off the bus they were all wearing orange jumpsuits, blackout goggles, earmuffs, handcuffs with a belly chain and leg shackles.

"David was the second detainee to get off the bus that day. Myself and my escorting partner took control of him and started to scream at him to move. We placed him on his knees and pushed his head down. Once we got David inside the tent, we removed his goggles. They were so full of sweat that we had to dump them out. Just imagine a half glass full of water that you dumped out."

The abandoned "Camp X-Ray" detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Picture: Mladen Antonov / AFP Source: AFP

Neely said false information about Hicks had circulated, particularly in Australian media, about the day Hicks arrived.

"There has been a big myth that when David got off the bus that day he said he would kill an American soldier," Neely said.

"I will tell you right now from my mouth, the man who took David off that bus, through a processing station and into his cell that day at Camp X-Ray, that is a flat out lie."

He said Hicks was quiet and wanted to see his family.

"That was his main concern even though he was in a cage."

A RULING 13 YEARS IN THE MAKING

David Hicks was all smiles in 2011 at the launch of his book at Walsh Bay, Sydney. Pic. Melanie Russell Source: News Limited

Hicks spent five years at Guantanamo Bay between 2002-2007 before accepting the plea bargain. It meant he could return to Australia soon after because the majority of his sentence was suspended.

The US Court of Military Commission Review vacated that conviction overnight based on a ruling last year that found "material support to terrorism" was not a legally viable war crime for conduct that occurred before 2006. Hicks' lawyers in Australia were reportedly woken in the middle of the night to hear the good news.

A Pentagon spokesman, Army Lt. Col. Myles Caggins, said the government would not appeal the ruling.

Random House Australia published Hicks' biography, titled Guantanamo: My Journey, in 2010.

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Families flee ‘cyclone sandwich’

Communities in Queensland and the Northern Territory are battening down as two separate cyclones approach.

Storm clouds gather over the Gold Coast as Cyclone Marcia approaches. Source: News Corp Australia

FIERCE winds have torn trees out by their roots and hundreds of families have fled their homes as a "cyclone sandwich" approaches the north of Australia.

Both Cyclone Lam and Cyclone Marcia have strengthened into category three cyclones, and the latter is expected to become a category four by the time it hits.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and the Bureau of Meteorology have warned Marcia's wind gusts could reach 270km/h when it makes landfall.

Cyclone Lam is approaching the Northern Territory, while Cyclone Marcia is heading for Queensland. Source: Supplied

"Abnormally high tides are expected today and tomorrow, with levels above the highest tide of the year with flooding of low areas likely," the Bureau said this afternoon.

"Widespread rainfall totals between 100-300mm are forecast, with the heaviest falls expected within coastal catchments. Higher localised falls are possible, as is localised flash flooding."

Cyclone Marcia is now a category three system, and is likely to be upgraded again before it hits land.

There is already no water or power in some Northern Terrority communities, where ferocious gales have already reached 140km/h - with gusts of 190km/h expected later tonight - and hundreds of residents have been evacuated.

At a press conference, the Northern Territory's acting Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw said he expected Cyclone Lam to make landfall during low tide, but was nevertheless preparing for potential flooding.

"We have a number of teams who will be ready to deploy at short notice," he said.

Emergency services are going from door-to-door in NT towns, including Maningrida, to warn of gale force winds. Four hundred people have been evacuated so far, 350 of whom have been taken to Darwin.

Goulburn Island residents have begun evacuation to Darwin ahead of the arrival of Cylone Lam.

Early images show Cyclone Marcia already affecting the Gold Coast. Picture: David Clark Source: News Corp Australia

Trees and branches strewn across the ground in Galiwinku as Cyclone Lam approaches. Pic from Elcho Island resident Jazlie Grygoruk. Source: Supplied

Earlier this afternoon, supermarket shelves were cleared in Queensland as frightened locals grabbed emergency supplies and bunkered down at their homes or at shelters in hospitals or schools.

Both cyclones are currently expected to make landfall around 3am.

Volunteers help feed the residents of Goulburn Island after the evacuation. Source: News Corp Australia

"It has got really bad here now, we are losing trees all over the place," Diana Roper told ABC News Darwin from a public shelter on Elcho Island.

Warruwi resident Marcustold AAP: "When the lightning strikes, it's a thump and then everything explodes".

Coastal residents between St Lawrence and Hervey Bay in Queensland have been warned of a dangerous storm tide, with damaging waves and flooding of low-lying areas predicted.

A BoM graphic shows Marcia's expected path. Source: Supplied

Category three Cylone Lam approaching the NT. Source: Supplied

The Bureau of Meteorology has told households to protect their properties and be ready to evacuate if advised to do so.

Marcia has been intensifying as it moves southwest through the Coral Sea towards Queensland, where it is expected to make landfall between St Lawrence and Bundaberg.

Dangerous surf is expected around the exposed beaches south of Sandy Cape, as well as thunderstorms before the cyclone hits the coast.

Heavy rainfall will develop around coastal and island communities between Mackay and Double Island Point today, with the area already on flood watch.

Meanwhile, the BoM forecasts Lam will reach category four before crossing the coast early tomorrow.

Northern Territory police confirmed today that Goulburn Island, 300km east of Darwin, was being evacuated.

At present, sustained winds near the centre have reached 140km/h, with gusts of 195km/h. Gales are forecast between Elcho Island and Nhulunbuy this morning.

Queensland is expecting its worst weather event in two years, with Marcia bringing with it the threat of wind and rainfall reminiscent of those that brought devastation in the 2011 floods, and again in 2012.

Surfers Paradise braces for Cyclone Marcia's arrival. Picture: Kit Wise Source: News Corp Australia

Preparations underway to protect the Gold Coast. Picture: David Clark Source: News Corp Australia

Satellite pictures of tropical storm headed for the Queensland coast. Picture: NASA/Modis Source: Supplied

Where Cyclone Marcia has been, and is expected to go. Source: CourierMail

The state is bracing for a hammering with the category-two cyclone bringing floods, a tidal surge and beach erosion which is already being felt ahead of the worst of Marcia.

Beaches were closed along the coast yesterday and sandbagging had already begun last night as the tropical low loomed, and rescue crews are preparing for the worst.

Coastal residents are warned of the dangerous storm tide as the cyclone crosses the coast.

"The sea is likely to rise steadily up to a level well above the normal tide, with damaging waves and flooding of some low-lying areas close to the shoreline," a BoM statement said.

"People living in areas likely to be affected by this flooding should take measures to protect their property as much as possible and be prepared to follow instructions regarding evacuation of the area if advised to do so by the authorities."

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Deputy Commissioner Mark Roche said it was vital for residents to prepare for severe weather now.

"Check your house, in particular the roof, is in good condition, keep branches clear of the house, clean gutters and clear your property of debris," Mr Roche said.

A major stretch of the Queensland coast will be saturated by heavy rain when the tropical low crosses the coast today.

Residents from St Lawrence, north of Rockhampton, to the NSW border have been warned to expect destructive winds, rough seas and abnormally high tides.

Some Gold Coast beaches were closed today due to large surf. Picture: Jerad Williams Source: News Corp Australia

THE RAINS ARE COMING

Up to 500mm of rain is expected to fall in some areas over coming days.

But Queensland Fire and Rescue Service Commissioner Katarina Carroll said crews were well prepared.

"We've looked at the event from St Lawrence downwards, so we have got swift water rescue staff pre-positioned in many of those areas because we've got well over 200 (emergency service workers) trained for this," she said.

Authorities have repeatedly urged residents not to enter floodwaters.

QFES spokesman Peter Jeffrey said most areas would receive around 300mm rainfall, and warned winds had picked up in the past 12 hours.

"Given the current rate of progress of the cyclone we've got some opportunity to make some final preparations," he said.

"Given the speed the wind is now getting up to there's still an opportunity to make sure there's nothing loose around the back yard. Localised flooding is expected so the key message as always is if it's flooded forget it, it's too unsafe, you don't know what's going on underneath that water."

Up to 6m swells are expected across the coast. Picture: Luke Marsden. Source: News Corp Australia

DOUBLE-PRONGED THREAT

Lam is currently rated a Category 3, but is expected to intensify into a Category 4 system before it hits. The cyclone is already powerful, with wind gusts up to 195km/h.

The cyclone is north northwest of the NT's fifth largest town of Nhulunbuy where locals have already begun queuing for essentials and emergency shelters are open.

Empty shelves at Woolworths in the town centre. Source: News Corp Australia

While it is unlikely the cyclone will cross the coast at any major towns, there are a number of Aboriginal communities in the area that could face the full front of the system.

Police have warned people to stay away from waterways, to avoid driving into water of an unknown depth, to stay away from fallen powerlines, and to create their own sandbags out of whatever bags or material is at hand to stave off rising waters.

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What made Jason Hendrix snap?

The suspect ... Jason Hendrix, who was killed in a police shootout. Picture: CNN Source: Supplied

A TEEN boy has been killed in a US police shootout after allegedly slaying his parents and younger sister for taking away his computer and phone privileges.

Jason Hendrix, 16, of Corbin, Kentucky, was suspected of killing his family execution-style before fleeing his home, and leading police on a high-speed chase.

Baltimore County Police also said Jason shot and wounded a police officer in the shootout after crashing his parent's green Honda Pilot into a silver sedan.

At least six officers opened fire on Jason, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Maryland State Police said they initially wanted to pull him over for speeding.

The shootout led police to search the teen's home more than 500 miles (804km) away in Corbin.

There, authorities found the bodies of his parents Kevin and Sarah Hendrix and their daughter, Grace, about age 12, Corbin Police Chief David Campbell said.

The father, wearing a sport coat and tie from work, was shot twice in the head, Campbell said. He added that the mother was shot twice in the face and the girl twice in the head and once in the arm.

The car chase ... Jason Hendrix fled the scene of the murder. Picture: CBS Baltimore Source: Supplied

Jason had fled the gruesome murder scene in his parent's car, armed with four weapons and a backpack full of ammunition, Campbell added.

He was carrying four .38-caliber handguns, a 9mm handgun and a shotgun, according to police. Two of the weapons — the 9mm and one of the .38-caliber guns — were loaded, police said.

"It's concerning that any 16-year-old would be driving around with that kind of firepower," said Cpl. John Wachter, spokesman for the police.

"Nobody should have been running around with that many weapons unsecured."

Police Chief David Campbell said all the evidence pointed to Jason being the suspect.

Police didn't know why the suspect decided to flee to the East Coast. The family had no relatives in Baltimore, Campbell said.

"We have no clue why he went up there," the chief said.

As for a motive, Campbell said the teenager was angry at his parents for taking away his computer privileges days before the slayings.

"The mother had talked to a co-worker and told her that he was really mad about that," the chief said.

Shots fired ... the back of Jason Hendrix's getaway car. Picture: CBS Baltimore Source: Supplied

Jason met up with friends at a church evening and showed no signs of distress. "They said he was just like he usually is," Campbell said.

Family and friends in Corbin could not understand the series of events, recalling that Jason was a regular churchgoer and was known for his politeness.

Drew Mahan, the founding pastor of Forward Community Church where the Hendrixes attended, said officers questioned him extensively about Jason on Saturday night after discovering the bodies. He described Jason as a faithful member of his three-year-old church, which holds services at a local movie theatre.

Jason would arrive at the theatre every Sunday at 7am to help set up the church's equipment and was baptised at a service in December.

The crash site ... police investigate the crash after the shootout. Picture: CBS Baltimore Source: Supplied

"People want to ask questions. Why? How? I simply looked at folks today and said, 'I don't know," Mahan said after finishing the Sunday morning service.

"The guy has been here. He's been an influence on our students, he's been an influence on my own kids. They love him."

His parents Kevin and Sarah Hendrix were beekeepers who sold honey in the local farmers market, and Grace Hendrix was a middle school cheerleader.

A spokesman for Union College in Barbourville confirmed Sarah Hendrix was a professor at the school.

Michelle Payne, a 30-year-old mother who lived across the street from the Hendrixes, said they were "your classic small town family," adding she had not seen the family since Tuesday night when Kevin was walking the family's dog.

The police officer who was shot was treated at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center and released, according to a statement.

Officials said the six Baltimore County Police officers who fired their weapons during the shootout will be placed on administrative status pending a review.

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‘No one responds well to threats’

Strongest words yet from PM Tony Abbott on Indonesian plans to execute the 'Bali nine' Australian duo. Sky News

Remember the aid ... Tony Abbott flagged that future relations with Indonesia would be fractured if the executions went ahead. Photo by Andrew Taylor/G20 Australia via Getty Images Source: Getty Images

INDONESIA'S Foreign Ministry has reportedly rebuffed Prime Minister Tony Abbott's statement that the nation should remember Australia's Boxing Day tsunami aid in its deliberations over the fate of Bali Nine duo Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

Foreign Ministry spokeman Arrmanatha Nasir told reporters in Jakarta he hadn't studied Mr Abbott's comments on the tsunami aid but he understood he had made a linkage to "the issue now in Indonesia".

"There's a saying in Indonesia, 'orang akan terlihat warna sebenarnya,' (people will show their true colours)," he said.

"So I hope this does not reflect, the statements made, the true colours of Australians."

Diplomatic drama and family tragedy ... as negotiations continued at the highest levels today, Myuran Sukumaran's mother Raji visited him at Kerobokan prison. Pictrue: AFP PHOTO / SONNY TUMBELAKA Source: AFP

Mr Nasir said he didn't want to speculate on Australia's next moves.

"But what I know is this, threats are not part of diplomatic language ... Threats are not part of diplomatic language and from what I know, no one responds well to threats."

The rebuke comes after Mr Abbott made his strongest stance yet against the executions, urging Indonesia to remember all of the assistance Australia gave to the country after the Boxing Day tsunami.

Intense media interest ... Andrew Chan's borther Michael also visited his brother today. Picture: AFP PHOTO / SONNY TUMBELAKA Source: AFP

The Prime Minister this morning said Australia would feel "grievously let down" if Indonesia proceeded with sending the two Bali Nine ringleaders to face the firing squad.

"Let's not forget that a few years ago when Indonesia was struck by the Indian Ocean tsunami Australia sent $1 billion worth of assistance, we sent a contingent of our armed forces to help in Indonesia with humanitarian relief," Mr Abbott said.

"Australians lost their lives in that campaign to help Indonesia.

The eye of the storm ... Indonesian police stand guard in front of Kerobokan prison in Denpasar. Picture: AFP PHOTO / SONNY TUMBELAKA Source: AFP

"I would say to the Indonesian people and the Indonesian government that we in Australia are always there to help you and we hope that you might reciprocate in this way at this time. "

Mr Abbott also flagged that future relations with Indonesia would be fractured if the executions went ahead.

"I don't want to prejudice the best possible relations with a very important friend and neighbour," the Prime Minister said.

"But I've got to say that we cant just ignore this type of thing, if the perfectly reasonable representations that we are making to Indonesia are ignored by them.

INDONESIA: 'We're ready to carry out the executions'

DEATH ISLAND: The business of death on Nusakambangan

Tough stance ... Prime Minister Tony Abbott, pictured today, has reminded Indonesia about the billions of dollars Australians gave to the country in the wake of the Boxing Day tsunami. Picture: Chris McCormack. Source: News Corp Australia

"We are doing no more for our citizens than Indonesia routinely does for its own citizens. And if it is right and proper for Indonesia to make these representations, if it is right and proper for other countries to heed Indonesia's representations, it is right and proper for us to make the representations and for them to be heeded."

The Prime Minister described Chan and Sukumaran as "thoroughly reformed characters" and said it would be an error for Indonesia to execute them when they were helping so many other drug offenders rehabilitate.

"It is much better to use these people than to kill them," Mr Abbott said.

"Yes they have done a terrible thing, yes they should spend a long, long time in jail but they don't deserve to die."

A 3D flyover of the final journey for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran from Bali to Nusa Kambangan prison where they'll be housed before their execution.

Mr Abbott said the latest development in the saga, in which the transfer of Chan and Sukumaran to a separate island where they will be executed was delayed, was an "encouraging sign".

But he said the Australian government would not cease its representations to the Indonesian government until it was confirmed the two men would not be executed.

"It might be an encouraging straw in wind and let's hope that Indonesia has realised that its own best values and its own best interests are served by not going ahead with these executions but in the end all we can do is keep making representations," he said.

"We will be making our displeasure known. We will be letting Indonesia know in absolutely unambiguous terms that we feel grievously let down.

Preparations ... Coffins and cells are ready for the condemned inmates on Indonesia's execution island, though their transportation has been delayed. Source: News Corp Australia

EXECUTIONS COULD LEAD TO JAIL VIOLENCE

Mr Abbott's plea comes as the spiritual adviser for Andrew Chan warned if Indonesia goes ahead with the executions of he and Mayan Sukumaran, it could lead to more violence and unrest in the prison system.

Jeff Hammond, a Jakarta-based pastor who has been counselling Chan for four years, said proceeding with the death sentence would send a message to other criminals on death row that there was no point of rehabilitation because the outcome would still be the same.

He said many of the inmates looked up to the two men and at least nine prisoners had offered to take Chan's place in front of the firing squad.

"Every inmate on death row, now none of them has any hope of mercy or rehabilitation so the impact could be that you could have a situation where you might have more violence and uncertainty in the prison," Mr Hammond told ABC radio.

"The impact of this particular decision and if the executions go ahead could be actually quite dangerous in the prison.

"Other prisoners on life also have no hope that their sentence might be downgraded to 20 years to given them hope that one day they might be able to get out of prison."

Mr Hammond said he had been struck by the remarkable transformation Chan had made over his ten years in an Indonesian jail.

Remarkable transformation ... Andrew Chan is escorted by an Indonesian prison guard upon arrival at Denpasar district court in Bali, Indonesia in 2006. Pic: AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati Source: AP

He said that both the men had a profound impact on the prison and their fellow inmates and that nine other prisoners had offered to take Chan's place in front of the firing squad.

Mr Hammond said Chan was "ready to meet his maker" if it comes to that but was concerned about the firing squad.

"What if not a peaceful execution, what if it's only a partial death and they have to come and blow his brains out," he said.

Indonesia yesterday announced it had delayed the transfer of Chan and Sukumaran to another island prison.

Making plans ... Indonesian police leaving Wijaya Pura pier after visiting Nusakambangan prison in Cilacap, Indonesia on Tuesday. Photo by Ardiles Rante Source: Supplied

The men will now get more time with their families.

There is still no time-frame for when they are due to be executed.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said a last-chance appeal by their legal team was set down for February 24 and she hoped that Indonesia would respect the court process and allow that to go ahead.

Lawyers will appeal the decision to reject clemency for the two men.

Ms Bishop said this morning Australia would continue to make representations to the Indonesian government for "as long as we have to".

Last chance ... Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Australia would continue to make representations to the Indonesian government for "as long as we have to". Pic: AFP PHOTO/MARK GRAHAM Source: AFP

"There is also a legal challenge underway on the 24th February where the lawyers have an appeal. I would urge the Indonesian government to not take any steps towards the execution while those legal avenues are underway," Ms Bishop told ABC radio.

"We are asking Indonesia to show the same mercy as they seek to be shown to their nationals on death row in foreign countries.

"We believe the rehabilitation of these two men is remarkable. It is something the Indonesian government can be proud of and it speaks volumes of the Indonesian prison system."

LAMBIE: "PULL THE BLOODY FOREIGN AID"

Senator Jacqui Lambie is calling on the federal government to scrap foreign aid to "two-faced" Indonesia if the pair are executed.

Senator Lambie said Prime Minister Tony Abbott had to "put his foot down" and "pull the bloody foreign aid".

"My heart goes out to their families and friends, there is no doubt about that. I know if it was my mates or my sons I would certainly be feeling the pinch. I'd remind Australia that they give $500 million in foreign aid to Indonesia," Senator Lambie said.

"If you want to talk about executions we lost 88 people in the Bali bombs over there. And you know, those people that were part of that outfit are now walking out on the streets.

"Two-faced" ... Senator Jacqie Lambie said Prime Minister Tony Abbott had to "put his foot down" and "pull the bloody foreign aid". Source: Supplied

"I find Indonesia to be extremely two faced, in the way they're going around doing things. They're over in other countries begging for leniency for their own people on the death penalty, yet they're about to take two of ours out.

"I'd ask Tony Abbott to put his foot down, start using a bit of manly influence, and see what he's made of.

"Why the hell are we giving Indonesia $500 million? Why are we doing that? Nobody will answer my question

"Pull the bloody foreign aid."

Sad pilgrimage ... Michael Chan leaves after visiting his brother in Kerobokan prison in Denpasar. AFP PHOTO / SONNY TUMBELAKA Source: AFP

GLIMMER OF HOPE

Meanwhile, Supreme Court judge Lex Lasry believes there is now a "glimmer of hope" that the pair can avoid execution.

Speaking at an early morning vigil for Chan and Sukumaran at Melbourne's County Court this morning Justice Lasry said the decision to postpone the men's transfer from Kerobokan prison gave them new hope.

"There is time now available to everybody involved in this case to press their case a bit harder," he said.

"Most of all there is time now for the case to be pressed in relation to the rehabilitation and redemption of these two men. It is an overwhelming case.

"As a judge I've sentenced a number of people over the years. The topic that appears in judicial sentencing that is dealt with according to the evidence in the case is the topic of prospects of rehabilitation.

Convicted ... Andrew Chan (L), and Myuran Sukumaran (R) are escorted by police to prison after their verdicts were announced in Denpasar on February 14, 2006. Pic: AFP PHOTO / FILES / JEWEL SAMAD Source: Supplied

"And you know, and I know, that you won't see people with stronger prospects of rehabilitation than Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan."

Justice Lasry said the spare time also gave the Australian government a chance to continue to make the case to the Indonesian government to spare the men's lives.

"Without over stating it, there is a glimmer of hope that the execution of Myuran and Andrew can be avoided and they can be given a chance to live," he said.

"And the chance to live is a chance for them in Kerobokan prison for some years to come, to indeed serve the country of Indonesia, to assist the prisoners in that country.

"To divert prisoners away from difficulty, drugs and trouble. To set the example that they've set over the last nine years, of what can be achieved even under the most adverse circumstances when they, as they have, set out to live the best life that they can.

Glimmer of hope ... Myuran Sukumaran walks inside Kerobokan Jail. Pic: Lukman S. Bintoro. Pic Lukman S. Bintoro Source: News Corp Australia

"Let's hope that with more work, with more reasoned argument, and some more time on our side, the lives of these men can be spared."

Justice Lasry, a staunch anti-death penalty campaigner, said he had visited the men twice in the past three weeks.

He first met them in 2006 and said he had visited simply as a friend.

"I can tell you that they and their families are enormously grateful and moved by the support that they know is being offered to them from here."

Justice Lasry was speaking to hundreds of Melbourne's legal fraternity who turned out to the morning vigil.

Magistrates, judges and lawyers joined in a show of support for the men.

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The sure-fire TV hit that failed

Gallipoli is an eight-part Australian television drama series to be telecast on the Nine Network in 2015, the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli Campaign.

In the trenches ... Tolly (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Dave Klein (Sam Parsonson), Cliff (Tom Budge) and Bevan (Harry Greenwood) in the frontline trench at Quinn's Post. Picture: Ben King Source: Supplied

CHANNEL 9 executives must be bunkered down in the trenches after the poor figures for Gallipoli last night.

The second episode of Nine's flagship drama dropped to a disappointing 580,000 viewers across Australia's five capital cities.

Gallipoli was even beaten by the ABC's Q & A (769,000) which featured Malcolm Turnbull on its panel. Seven's movie Identity Thief (571,000) was a comedy alternative. Ten's Law & Order: SVU averaged 420,000.

Meanwhile, earlier in the night My Kitchen Rules' dominance continued.

RELATED: Manu tells of his feud with Colin Fassnidge

It was easily the number one show for the night — with 1.688 million viewers across the five capital cities. Australian Story, featuring the saga of the Leyland Brothers, also did well — with 1.027 million.

Gallipoli's figure was nearly 50 per cent down compared to last week's debut episode which averaged 1.104 million viewers in its first hour.

There were worrying signs even then, though, with Gallipoli's second hour falling to 804,000 viewers.

Actor Lachy Hulme, who appears in the series as Lord Kitchener, took to Twitter last night to defend the series.

"If you didn't see Gallipoli tonight you are truly out of your mind," Hulme tweeted. "Yes, it's dark, violent and bloody. But it is sensational."

Faltering ... Captain Eric Taylor (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor) loses his footing on the steep terrain of hill Baby 700 while leading his men on the first day of the campaign in the miniseries Gallipoli. Picture: Ben King Source: Supplied

Some viewers have taken aim at Nine for the number of advertisements that are screening during Gallipoli.

"For two weeks in a row Channel 9 have infuriated viewers by interrupting the commercials with a miniseries," Chris Williams tweeted angrily.

Nine's decision to make the entire series available on the Stan streaming service — in high definition and without advertisements — could also be impacting ratings.

Hulme's tweet suggests another possible reason for Gallipoli faltering — the subject matter is too violent and depressing for a lot of viewers.

Fighting on ... Bevan (Harry Greenwood) and Tolly (Kodi Smit-McPhee) in Gallipoli. Picture credit: Ben King. Source: Channel 9

Last night's episode was set one month after Aussie troops landed on the Turkish coast. Tolly Johnson (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and his mates were stuck in trenches surrounded by rotting corpses.

"(Gallipoli) is not attractive for viewers," media analyst Steve Allen says. "It is too ponderous, too earnest, and too slow plus we all know the story, at least the basics, already."

The launch of Nine's other new drama, The House of Hancock, at the same time as Gallipoli, may have split the audience.

It is very rare for any TV network to launch two major dramas in the same week let alone within the space of two days.

On the attack ... Tolly (Kodi Smit-McPhee) makes his way up the ridge, gun at the ready. Picture credit: Ben King Source: Supplied

Mr Allen posits two other reasons — the 9pm start time and the poor ratings lead-in from The Block Triple Threat (755,000).

"We are seeing a real and seemingly growing problem with ratings for Australian dramas that commence at 9pm or after," Mr Allen says.

"Then there is the fact that The Block is probably the opposite of a good lead in program. Not only is it having its own ratings issues but it is the wrong audience profile for Gallipoli."

Channels Seven and Ten will be watching the Gallipoli ratings closely. Both networks have Gallipoli-themed programs set to roll out in coming months.

Nine will be hoping the catch-up figures from viewers that taped last night's episode, will add some respectability to the Gallipoli figures.

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Execution move ‘delayed’ at 11th hour

A lawyer for the Bali Nine duo says they won't face execution before a court challenge is heard.

Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs Tanya Plibersek making a statement to the House of Representatives on Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, Parliament House in Canberra Source: News Corp Australia

PLANS to move Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran to Nusa Kambangan island to await their execution may be delayed.

Sources have told News Corp Australia that the Indonesian Attorney General last night instructed Bali officials to delay the move which was planned for this week and could have gone ahead as early as tonight.

Movement at the jail ... an increased presence was noticed at Kerobokan Jail today. Picture: Adam Taylor Source: News Corp Australia

A spokesman for Indonesia's attorney-general said their transfer has been delayed because Nusakambangan island, where they will be executed, is not yet ready.

Spokesman Tony Spontana also said the Australian government had requested more time for Chan and Sukumaran to spend with their families, and a Brazilian prisoner also due to be executed was suffering a mental illness.

"I'm sure this week there won't be any transfers," he told reporters in Jakarta.

It was first thought it may relate to a fierce battle ongoing in Jakarta between the national police and the anti-corruption body over the appointment of a new police chief who has been investigated for corruption.

The police chief candidate yesterday won a court battle to stop the corruption commission's investigation and the decision, ruling that his declaration as a graft suspect was unwarranted under the law, brought protests.

This morning, grief was etched onto the faces of the families and close-knit group of friends of Chan and Sukumaran as they made the now daily ritual into Kerobokan jail to visit the men during what could be their last days.

Legal bid ... Indonesian lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis (L) beside Australian lawyer Michael O'Connell (R) representing the two Australian drug traffickers during a press conference yesterday. Source: AFP

The strain of the past few weeks, since the Indonesian Government instructed for the two Australians to be put before a firing squad, regardless of ongoing court appeals, has taken its toll on the two families.

And inside the jail, the fellow prisoners of Chan and Sukumaran, are tense and nervous, unsure of when and if they will even get to say goodbye to the two men who have enriched their lives and made Kerobokan prison a better place for them all.

As younger men ... Chan and Sukumaran in 2006. Source: AP

Authorities said yesterday that the two men would be flown to Nusa Kambangan this week and would be housed in the maximum security Batu prison on the island to await their execution.

It has been planned they would fly, on a charter from Bali to Cilacap, the port town close to Nusa Kambangan, an island of six jails.

But no date was given and authorities say they would not be given their 72 hours notice of execution until they are already at Nusa Kambangan.

It comes as lawyers for the pair have begged the Attorney General to delay their move from Bali and execution until a lawsuit in the State Administrative Court in Jakarta is heard next week.

Desperate days ... Raji Sukumaran arrives at Kerobokan Jail today. Picture: Adam Taylor Source: News Corp Australia

The legal team has lodged an action, claiming that the Indonesian President, breached stands of good governance by failing to individually consider each case on merits before rejecting Chan and Sukumaran's pleas for clemency.

The President, Joko Widodo, cited a "drug emergency" in his country as reason for issuing a blanket denial of all drug trafficker clemency applications, saying the executions would be "shock therapy" to halt the scourge of drugs.

However the lawyers claim that he failed to take into account the rehabilitation and redemption of Chan and Sukumaran, who have turned Kerobokan jail into a learning institution and have embraced the role of anti-drugs crusaders.

Desperate bid ... Members of the Australian embassy leave the venue after meeting with Indonesian officials yesterday. Source: AFP

Six former PMs, one plea

Earlier today, in an extraordinary show of bipartisanship, all of Australia's living former prime ministers have joined the calls for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran to be given clemency.

As the ringleaders of the Bali Nine drug smuggling operation face execution, John Howard, Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd, Bob Hawke, Paul Keating and Malcolm Fraser all expressed their concern over the fate of the two Australians.

Their intervention came as Labor's foreign affairs spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek said the Australian Federal Police should have waited until the men were in Australia to arrest them, rather than tipping off the Indonesian police.

Heartbreaking ... Gillard says the pair deserve recognition for the changes they've made. Source: News Corp Australia

Tragedy ... Fraser said the execution would be tragic, but recalling the ambassador to Indonesia would be foolish. Source: News Corp Australia

In separate statements to the Australian newspaper, the group pleaded with Indonesian President Joko Widodo to spare the two men's lives saying they believed they had rehabilitated.

Ms Gillard said she would find it heartbreaking if the men's "extraordinary efforts to become of good character were not met with an act of mercy, of recognition of change".

Mr Howard said the pair had demonstrated genuine rehabilitation, while Mr Rudd urged an act of clemency from Indonesia.

On the move ... Kerbokan was a hive ofactivity today. Picture: Adam Taylor Source: News Corp Australia

Mr Hawke, meanwhile, said Chan and Sukumaran had served their incarceration with model behaviour.

"I therefore urge and plead that the government reconsider its decision to now take their lives," he added.

Mr Fraser said an execution would be a tragedy, but recalling Australia's ambassador to Indonesia would be foolish.

Mr Keating described the men's pending execution as "a monstrous act" which would provide no atonement for a crime.

Pleading ... Rudd joined the calls for clemency. Source: News Corp Australia

Deserving ... Hawke said the pair has served their sentence with model behaviour. Source: News Corp Australia

AFP should have picked up Bali Nine in Australia: Plibersek

Earlier, Tanya Plibersek said Bali Nine convicted drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran should have been picked up by police in Australia.

Asked this morning if the Australian Federal Police should wear some of the blame for tipping off Indonesian police about the smuggling operation rather than arresting Chan and Sukumaran when they returned to Australia, Labor's foreign affairs spokeswoman said it was "unquestionable" that it would have resulted in a better outcome.

The final journey of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukamaran will see them taken to an Island off the coast of Bali where they will be executed.

"I think it's unquestionable that it would have been better to pick these young people up when they returned to Australia," Ms Plibersek said.

EXECUTION IMMINENT: Duo to be moved to Nusa Kambangan island this week

"I would have been quite happy for them to do long jail terms in Australia — they've done something very seriously wrong. It was a large quantity of drugs and they should have received serious sentences.

"But it would have been preferable for them to be caught in Australia, dealt with in our Australian judicial system, served time in an Australian jail and hopefully been rehabilitated here as they have in Indonesia."

Chan and Sukumaran were sentenced 10 years ago for drug trafficking and given the death penalty. They have been held in a Bali jail and are said to have turned their lives around and rehabilitated successfully.

Pleading ... Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop and her shadow minister, Ms Plibersek, have made repeated pleas for the Bali Nine duo to be spared from execution. Source: News Corp Australia

It was announced yesterday that Chan and Sukumaran would be moved this week to the island where they will be executed.

Bali's chief prosecutor Momock Bambang Samiarso says the two Australians would be taken to Nusa Kambangan prison, off Cilacap in Central Java in the coming days but a firm date has yet to be set.

It is on the island, in one of the six prisons, the pair will live out their final days until executions.

Waiting game ... Chan, pictured here, and Sukumaran will be moved to Nusa Kambangan prison in the coming days. Source: News Corp Australia

Waiting game ... Sukumaran walks back to his cell after a visit from his mother. Source: News Corp Australia

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Bali Nine duo on way to death island

The final journey of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukamaran will see them taken to an Island off the coast of Bali where they will be executed.

Death island ... Nusa Kambangan Island's prisons complex, off the coast of Central Java, Indonesia where the Indonesian government plans to execute Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. Source: Supplied

ANDREW Chan and Myuran Sukumaran will be moved this week to the island where they will be executed.

Bali's chief prosecutor Momock Bambang Samiarso says the two Australians will be taken to Nusa Kambangan prison, off Cilacap in Central Java in the coming days but a firm has yet to be set.

Here on the island, in one of the six prisons on the island, the pair will live out their final days until executions.

It is expected they will be put into isolation in the Batu prison. This is the same prison where the notorious Bali bombers were housed before their execution.

Mr Samiarso's comments came after a planning meeting in Bali this afternoon to map out the process for moving and then executing Chan and Sukumaran.

Asked when they would be moved, Mr Samiarso said: "Soon. I hope within this week."

He said the pair would be flown from Bali to Cilacap, the town nearest Nusa Kambangan Island, for transfer to the prison.

MORE: Inside the death island where our Bali Nine pair will go

TONY ABBOTT: 'I feel sick in the pit of my stomach'

HEAVY HEARTS: Andrew Chan's parents say their final goodbye

Australian death-row prisoners ... Myuran Sukumaran, right and Andrew Chan, left, stand in front of their cell. Picture: AP Source: Supplied

Mr Samiarso said a charter flight, with 20 or 30 police and security officials, would fly the two men from Bali.

He said so far there was no date set for the execution but the family would be advised three days in advance that it was happening.

Bali Police chief, Benny Mokalu, who also attended the meeting, said police and military personnel would be involved in the move.

Earlier, Prime Minister Tony Abbott personally pleaded with Indonesian President Joko Widodo to grant mercy to Chan and Sukumaran.

"The Indonesian government doesn't normally go ahead with executions of this type while there are legal options still available," he said.

"And that's what we're saying to the Indonesian government: given that there are legal options that apparently are still there, let's not do this dreadful, final, irrevocable thing any time soon."

Meanwhile a new Lowy Institute poll has found that 62 per cent of Australians oppose the men's execution.

Emotional moments ... Myuran Sukumaran's mother Raji visits Kerobokan Jail. Picture: Lukman Bintoro. Source: News Corp Australia

Most of the 1211 randomly-selected adults also oppose the death penalty for drug trafficking in general.

Mr Abbott said the government was "straining every fibre" to prevent the pair from facing the firing squad in coming weeks.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Australia has offered to help Indonesia get their own citizens off death rows overseas if Chan and Sukumaran are spared.

"We are more than prepared to work with them in their pleas for clemency for Indonesian nationals on death row elsewhere, particularly in the Middle East," she told the Seven Network.

"This would be a grave injustice, indeed a wasted opportunity for Indonesia to show how well its prison system rehabilitates its prisoners."

Family supporters ... Myuran Sukumaran's father visits Kerobokan Jail. Picture: Lukman Bintoro. Source: News Corp Australia

Bali's Governor Made Pastika has called on Australians not to boycott Bali and for the Australian Government to respect Indonesian law.

Mr Pastika, a former police officer and former head of the country's National Narcotics Agency, reiterated controversial statistics quoted by the Indonesian President as rationale for the stepping up of drug trafficker executions.

"Drugs is very dangerous for us, for the Government. You know in Indonesia there is about 50 person died every day because of drugs, 50 people," said Mr Pastika.

Indonesian Foreign Ministry officials were due to meet Australian embassy officials in Jakarta.

Stay with us ... The Governor of Bali, right, Made Mangku Pastika, has urged Australia not to boycott Bali. Picture: Lukman S. Bintoro. Source: Supplied

Indonesia's Foreign Ministry invited all embassies with citizens to be executed to the meeting, for the purpose of spelling out the logistics, including media coverage.

However no date has yet been set for when the two Australians and nine others who will face the firing squad for drug crimes.

The tense wait for the two young Sydney men, whose lawyers are working overtime to save their lives continues.

Chan and Sukumaran were again yesterday visited in Kerobokan prison by their families, however Chan's ailing parents made the heartbreaking decision to return home due to ill health.

The pair was among nine Australians arrested in 2005 in Bali for heroin trafficking.

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This McDonald’s burger is 20 years old

Mmm.....Casey Dean and Eduard Nitz have waited 20 years to taste this burger. Source: Channel 10

ONCE upon a time in Adelaide, Casey Dean, 14, and his good mate Eduard Nitz, 13, stopped off at their local McDonald's to pick up some burgers. Among them was a Quarter Pounder with cheese they'd bought for another kid. That kid never turned up, but they didn't eat his burger. Ever.

That was back in 1995. The boys have become men and the burger has turned 20 and to celebrate, Mr Dean and Mr Nitz are going to reveal it to the world for the first time with an appearance on The Project tonight.

To bite or not to bite? Casey Dean and Eduard Nitz have pondered this question for two decades. Source: Channel 10

"We're pretty sure it's the oldest burger in the world," Mr Dean said.

"It started off as a joke, you know we told our friend we'd hold his burger for him but he never turned up and before we knew it six months had passed. The months became years and now, 20 years later, it looks the same as it did the day we bought it, perfectly preserved in its original wrapping."

To find out if Casey or Eduard take a bite of the burger after all these years, tune into The Project at 6.30pm tonight on Channel 10.

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Celebrities’ secret weapon

Celebrity stylist Micaela Erlanger with her client, actress Lupita Nyong'o. Photo: Randy Brooke. Source: Getty Images

SUNDAY Style's Alice Wasley sits down with celebrity stylist Micaela Erlanger to talk frocks, awards shows and Jared Leto's hair.

YOU'RE fresh from the SAG Awards, where your client, Lupita Nyong'o, wore a beautiful multicoloured, graphic-print Elie Saab gown. What other clients did you have there?

I work with Jared Leto and Tatiana Maslany, who was nominated for Best Actress for Orphan Black.

How does it work logistically when you have multiple clients on a big night like that?

Lots of organisation [laughs]. Management skills really come into play.

Do you have them all in the same area, so you can dart between them?

You're lucky if everyone's in the same area. Two out of three were [at the SAGs]. I have a wonderful team who works with me. It really is about time management. I also think that I got lucky because everyone's red-carpet arrivals were timed differently this year, so I was able to balance it out and get everyone dressed and out the door.

Oh Jared. Such a dreamboat. Photo: Mireya Acierto/FilmMagic. Source: Getty Images

Were there any last-minute emergencies?

No, at this point we have it down to a science. And everything has been tested and double checked and fitted numerous times, and all that jazz, so it's smooth sailing.

Jared Leto was rocking a man-plait at the Golden Globes and free-flowing locks at the

SAGs. Do you have any say in his hairstyling decisions?

I do not take credit for his flowing locks; that's not my territory. But I think he has wonderful hair.

Do you have to coordinate? Because you must have to know how he's going to style his hair. Yeah, of course. There's a conversation, but it's just like with any client. The entire team — hair, make-up, styling — we're all working together.

How did you get into the styling game?

A series of internships led me to discover that this line of work existed. I always thought you had to be a fashion editor; I didn't realise that this really was a career path. I interned at various magazines and then I assisted various stylists, including my mentor [the late stylist Annabel Tollman]. Then I got a business degree at Parsons [in New York] in the design and management program. I started from the bottom up — I was doing those coffee runs and whatnot!

Erlanger with her client, Downton Abbey actress Michelle Dockery. Photo: Kevin Mazur. Source: Getty Images

Do you need your clients to 'get' fashion?

No! Not at all. When someone is excited about fashion and has an understanding of it, it's really fun and great. But I have clients who don't, and that's equally interesting to me because it gives us more of a clean slate to work with. We get to develop our eye and make choices, and we develop someone's image together. So, I think that whether or not you have an education in fashion doesn't make or break your red carpet.

Do you prefer to dress clients who are willing to take risks?

It depends on what you define as risk. I like having clients who are open-minded and aren't afraid to try something new and different. Being willing to try on a dress that doesn't look like much on the hanger, but comes to life when you put it on — that's great. And that's open-minded, I think. Sometimes you surprise yourself.

Any particular fashion moments that you see as iconic?

Julia Roberts in Valentino [2001 Oscars]. Remember that black-andwhite gown? That was so incredible. I also loved Cate Blanchett in Givenchy [2011 Oscars]. It was a really unusual colour combination, lilac and greenish. Of course my own clients [laughs]: Michelle Dockery at the 2013 Golden Globes in the gold-and-white Alexander Vauthier; Lupita in Ralph Lauren [2014 Golden Globes] and custom Prada [2014 Oscars]. Those were very exciting moments. Also, Rose Byrne in the pale-pink crop top from Calvin Klein [2013 Emmy Awards]. There are so many stylists who do such sensational work, and so many actresses who wear clothes so beautifully.

Olivia Munn (R) and Micaela Erlanger. Photo: Donato Sardella/WireImage. Source: Getty Images

How would you describe your personal style?

I think I have a sense of playfulness and whimsy in my approach to styling. I love colour, I love pattern, I love dresses. But when it comes to the daily grind, you'll find me in functional clothes. I will not be rolling racks in four-inch heels, I will be doing that in sneakers. They'll be Céline, but they'll be sneakers.

See Lupita Nyong'o and Jared Leto at the Academy Awards, showing on Nine Network on February 23.

Follow Alice on Twitter @alicewasley. Download the Sunday Style app here.

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Copenhagen killings: police shoot man

A shooting at a Denmark synagogue kills one person and wounds two police officers, hours after an attack at a cafe in Copenhagen. Rough cut (no reporter narraion).

Manhunt ... Police have released these three CCTV captures of a man believed behind the attack on a Copenhagen cafe. Source: Supplied Source: Supplied

POLICE in Copenhagen believe they have shot dead the man who killed two people and wounded five in two terrorism-linked murders in the Danish capital.

A press conference is underway over the death of the man in a gunfight after two fatal shootings within a short space of time believed to be terrorism related.

The exchange of fire between police and the man took place in the multicultural inner-city neighbourhood of Noerrebro, near Nørrebro Station, where police had been keeping an address under observation after the fatal shootings nearby.

"At one point a person who could be interesting in relation to the investigation arrived at the site," police said.

After police called out to him "he opened fire against the police and was thereafter shot," the statement added.

No police officers were injured in the exchange of fire.

The shooting follows the death of a young Jewish man who was shot in the head at Copenhagen's main Jewish synagogue and after two policemen were shot and wounded, which came only hours after a deadly shooting at a cafe in the Danish capital hosting a 'Prophet Mohammed' cartoonist.

Around 80 people were inside the synagogue for a confirmation ceremony when a volunteer guard providing security was shot in the head and killed.

"It started with police being down at the site. A person comes up and starts to shoot," police spokesman Allan Teddy Wadsworth-Hansen said.

"The two police who were there were hit, one in the arm and one in the leg. They are both currently receiving treatment. Their lives are not in danger," he added.

He declined to say if there was any link between the dead man and Copenhagen's main synagogue, which is just metres away from where the incident took place in Krystalgade.

One man shot dead, two policemen shot at and wounded ... The shooting scene near a Jewish synagogue where police came under attack only hours after another fatal shooting in the Danish capital, Copenhagen.. Picture: AP / Rasmus Thau Riddersh Source: AP

Michael Gelvan, chairman of the Nordic Jewish Security Council, told AFP that a Jewish confirmation ceremony had been underway inside the synagogue and that the "young man" had been responsible for "access control" when he was shot in the head and killed.

"We don't know anything yet, it's too early to guess," he said about possible motives behind the killing.

"But it's a copy of what happened in Paris," he said, referring to the deadly attacks at satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket in January.

The two policemen shot and wounded were placed outside the synagogue after community leaders contacted authorities following the gun attack on the cafe debating Islam and free speech.

"I dare not think about what would have happened if (the killer) had access to the congregation," the chairman of The Jewish Community in Denmark, Dan Rosenberg Asmussen, told broadcaster TV2 News.

Volunteer security guard shot in the head and killed and two policemen wounded ... A file photo of the Synagoge in Krystalgade in Copenhagen which came under attack. Picture: AFP / Scanpix Denmark / Liselotte Sabroe Source: AFP

Parts of the Danish capital had been cordoned off but "it's not a question of a general curfew. People are allowed to travel around Copenhagen, safely," Wadsworth-Hansen said.

Witnesses in a bar across the street from the synagogue said they saw special police teams moving in with automatic rifles.

"We looked out the window and saw this guy lying on the street," said Rasmus Thau Riddersholm, 33. "We were told by police to stay in the back of the room, away from the windows and doors."

The cafe was hosting a free speech meeting attended by Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who has faced threats for caricaturing the Prophet Mohammed in 2007.

Australians have been urged to remain vigilient.

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Sunday updated its travel advice for Denmark, although it stressed the level of advice has not changed.

"There have been two shooting incidents in Copenhagen on the weekend of February 14-15," the advice read.

"Danish authorities believe at least one of the incidents to be terrorism-related.

"You should remain vigilant in public places, follow the instructions of local authorities, and report any suspicious activity to police.

At least one ioncident related to terrorism ... Police officers take cover behind their patrol cars on the streets of Denmark's capital Copenhagen after one person was shot in the head and killed and two policemen were wounded in Krystalgade, a street that is home to Copenhagen's main synagogue. Picture: AFP / Scanpix Denmark / Martin Sylvest Source: AFP

The nearby Noerreport train station, one of the country's busiest, had been evacuated and trains were not stopping there, Danish news agency Ritzau reported, quoting train operator DSB after the second incident.

Police have urged those trapped in the area of the lockdown to SMS relatives to let them know they are okay.

'FREE SPEECH' ATTACKED

Earlier, at the scene of the cafe shooting, at least two people had been taken away on stretchers — including a uniformed police officer. In a statement, Danish police said the victim was a 40-year-old man and they were looking for a gunman who drove away in a dark Volkswagen Polo shortly before 4pm local time (2am AEDT).

TARGET: Why do some want Swedish artist Lars Vilks dead?

The car was found abandoned around two hours after the attack. Police released a photo of the suspect showing a man in a dark anorak and a maroon hat carrying a black bag. They described him as 25-30 years old, around 185cm tall, with an athletic build.

They described him as 25-30 years old, around 185cm tall, with an athletic build.

A shooting several hours later at a Copenhagen synagogue which saw one person shot in the head and two police officers wounded has not yet been linked to the cafe assailant.

Heavily armed police and helicopters have locked down the site and the gunman has not yet been located. Copenhagen residents have been urged to stay indoors.

TALES OF SURVIVAL

Danish Prime Minister Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt described the cafe assault as "a terrorist attack" as Danish television showed the windows of the Krudttonden cultural centre pock-marked by multiple bullet holes.

"They fired on us from the outside. It was the same intention as (the January 7 attack on) Charlie Hebdo except they didn't manage to get in," French ambassador to Denmark, Francois Zimeray said by telephone.

After Islamic militants attacked the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris last month, killing 12 people, Vilks told AP that even fewer organisations were inviting him to give lectures over increased security concerns.

Investigating ... Police inspect the area around the Krudttoenden cafe in Copenhagen. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

Response ... Policemen secure the area after two people were wounded in a Copenhagen shooting. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

"Bullets went through the doors and everyone threw themselves to the floor." A statement by Danish police said "an unidentified man died after having been hit by bullets" in the strike, and three officers were wounded in the shooting.

Helle Merete Brix, one of the organisers of the event, said that Vilks was present at the event but not injured.

Target ... Lars Vilks, known for his 2007 drawing of the Prophet Mohammed with the body of a dog, was attending a debate on Islam and free speech as gunmen opened fire. Picture: AFP/Francois Campredon Source: AFP

When the artist is in Denmark, he receives police protection. "I clearly consider this as an attack on Lars Vilks," she added.

Vilks said he thought Sweden's SAPO security service, which deploys bodyguards to protect him, would step up the security around him. "This will create fear among people on a whole different level than we're used to," he said. "Charlie Hebdo was a small oasis. Not many dared do what they did."

Shattered lives ... The Copenhagen cafe, with bullet marked window, where a gunman opened fire. Source: AP Source: AP

Mr Zimeray said earlier on Twitter that he also was not harmed. "Intuitively I would say there were at least 50 gunshots, and the police here are saying 200," he said. "Bullets went through the doors and everyone threw themselves to the floor. We managed to flee the room, and now we're staying inside because it's still dangerous. The attackers haven't been caught and they could very well still be in the neighbourhood."

Under fire ... Femen activist, Inna Shevshenko, said there were several dozen people in the room. Picture: Facebook/Inna Shevchenko Source: Supplied

POLICE INJURED

Police spokesman Henrik Blandebjerg said three police officers at the event were also shot.

It's believed they were not seriously injured.

"I heard someone firing with an automatic weapon and someone shouting. Police returned the fire and I hid behind the bar. I felt surreal, like in a movie," Niels Ivar Larsen, one of the speakers at the event, told the TV2 channel.

A Femen activist, Inna Shevshenko, said on Twitter that there were several dozen people in the room.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius condemned the attack, saying in a statement that France "remains by the side of the Danish authorities and people in the fight against terrorism."

Vilks has been under police protection since his 2007 cartoons were published.

The French president's office said Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve was headed to the scene.

The cafe in northern Copenhagen, known for its jazz concerts, was hosting an event titled 'Art, blasphemy and the freedom of expression' when the shots were fired.

Sustained attack ... Danish police say 200 bullets ripped through the window of the Krudttoenden cafe in Copenhagen. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

LARS VILKS

Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who emerged unscathed from a deadly attack in a Copenhagen on Saturday, has survived several death threats since gaining international notoriety for a cartoon portraying the Prophet Mohammed as a dog.

The 68-year-old artist has also survived a foiled assassination plot and other attacks since his drawing of the Muslim spiritual leader was published in a local Swedish paper in 2007 with an editorial on the importance of freedom of expression.

The cartoon prompted protests by Muslims in the town of Oerebro, west of Stockholm, where the Nerikes Allehanda daily is based, while Egypt, Iran and Pakistan made formal complaints.

Vilks lives under police protection. While Danish security forces indicated Saturday's attack had been "planned", police said it was not clear whether any particular person had been the target.

His famous drawing appears on the website of his Danish support committee, which had also announced he would be attending the debate on the relation between art, blasphemy and freedom.

The committee awarded French magazine Charlie Hebdo a prize last year given to those it views as the greatest defenders of freedom of expression. Last month the satirical weekly was targeted by Islamist gunmen, who shot 12 people dead at the publication's Paris offices including several of its cartoonists.

Vilks' escape will stir familiar memories: in January 2014 an US woman nicknamed "Jihad Jane" was jailed for 10 years for agreeing to murder him, believing her American citizenship and appearance would help her blend in as she attempted the killing.

Colleen LaRose travelled to Europe and tracked Vilks online in an effort to complete the crime, but was unsuccessful.

Prior to that plot, two brothers of Swedish nationality but Kosovar origin were jailed when their personal items were found outside the artist's house in May 2010 after it was attacked with Molotov cocktails.

Although the fire blackened some of the house's exterior it went out on its own without causing much damage. The artist was not at home at the time.

That same week, Vilks was head-butted by a man while others shouted and attempted to attack him when he was giving a lecture at Sweden's Uppsala University.

The attack occurred as he was showing a film by an Iranian filmmaker depicting two homosexuals disguised as Mohammed.

Also in 2010, seven Muslims were arrested in Ireland over an alleged plot to assassinate the artist, who had a $100,000 bounty on his head from an Al-Qaeda-linked group.

And four men were accused of plotting to kill him at a Gothenburg art fair in September 2011, though they were later acquitted.

"I try to keep my cool. On the bright side, the people who are after me are probably ill-equipped -- these are amateurs," he told AFP in 2010.

"I'm not a fanatical racist, I do not have a political position. I am an artist who seeks the limits," he said.

"I think this is very important, if one wants to talk about freedom of expression and Islam and Muslims, to have a real position to have something sufficiently provocative and transgressive enough to start a debate.

Raids in Belgium on January 17 thwarted what police called imminent "terrorist attacks to kill police officers on public roads and in police stations." Two suspects were killed fighting Belgian police in those sweeps. Satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo raised the ire of Islamist extremists by publishing cartoons mocking Mohammed and periodically satirising Islam.

Vilks has been living under police protection after his controversial cartoons prompted death threats.

Concern of renewed attacks targeting symbols of freedom of speech and the press have been growing since the Charlie Hebdo assault, Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire told AFP after the Copenhagen assault.

"It's something that we feared after Charlie Hebdo. We see that ultra-radical groups are leading a war against freedom of expression, against the freedom to be irreverent about religion and against the simple freedom to debate them," Deloire said.

A Charlie Hebdo columnist voiced dismay over the Copenhagen shooting, saying: "We are all Danish tonight".

"It's horrible because it's one month after the Paris attacks, it brings back all the sadness," Patrick Pelloux told AFP.

Pelloux, who arrived at Charlie Hebdo's offices just minutes after the attack by two Islamist gunmen, urged artists not to succumb to self-censorship out of fear. "We must stand firm and not be afraid," he said.

Examination Forensic police officers work at the area around a cultural centre in Copenhagen, Denmark, where shots were fired during a debate on Islam and free speech. Source: AFP Source: AFP

RECENT ATTACKS AROUND THE WORLD

In France on January 7, 2015, an attack on the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo's Paris offices kills 12, followed the next day by the shooting death of a policewoman just outside the city in a connected incident. On January 9, the gunman who killed the policewoman takes hostages at a kosher supermarket in Paris. Four are killed during a police commando raid. The Charlie Hebdo assailants claim to be avenging the publication by the weekly of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

In Australia on December 15-16, 2014, two hostages and an extremist Iranian-born gunman, Man Haron Monis, are killed in a 16-hour siege involving 17 hostages that ends when police storm the Lindt Chocolate cafe in central Sydney. Monis's supposed links to the Islamic State jihadist group come under scrutiny after he makes hostages at the cafe hold up a black flag commonly used by jihadist groups bearing the shahada, or profession of faith in Islam.

In Canada on October 23, 2014, a soldier is fatally shot near parliament in the capital Ottawa. His attacker, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, who is shot dead when he attempts to storm parliament itself, was on a terror watch list. The incident comes a day after another attacker, Martin Rouleau Couture, ran over a soldier in Montreal, killing him before being shot dead by police. Ottawa has sent troops and jets as part of a US-led coalition to fight jihadists in Iraq. Both perpetrators in the Canadian attacks had recently joined the jihadist cause and planned to go and fight in Syria.

In Belgium on May 24, 2014, four people, including two Israeli tourists, are killed when a gunman attacks the Jewish Museum in Brussels. French police arrest Franco-Algerian Mehdi Nemmouche in Marseille, southern France, six days later and hand him over to Belgian officials in late July. Nemmouche, 29, has been charged with "murder in a terrorist context".

In Britain on May 22, 2013, soldier Lee Rigby, 25, is hacked to death by two Britons of Nigerian descent near an army barracks in the southeast of the capital. Witnesses say the attackers encouraged them to film the scene as they shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest") before being injured and arrested by the police. Footage shows one of the murderers saying he wants to avenge Muslims killed by British soldiers. In February 2014, Michael Adebolajo, 29, is sentenced to life in prison over the murder while Michael Adebowale, 22, receives a minimum of 45 years behind bars.

In the United States on April 15, 2013, two handmade bombs placed near the finish line of the Boston marathon and detonated 12 seconds apart kill three people and wound 264. A young Muslim of Chechen descent, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a naturalised American since 2012, is accused of carrying out an act of terrorism with a weapon of mass destruction. His brother, also accused of perpetrating the attacks, is killed in a police shootout.

In France on March 11 and 19, 2012, Mohamed Merah, 23, shoots three soldiers dead in Toulouse and Montauban, southern France, before killing three students and a teacher at a Jewish school in Toulouse. Merah is killed on March 22 in a shootout following a long siege of his apartment by French police.

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