"This man is not violent," Mr Habib told Fairfax Media. "I know him very well." Sydney siege gunman Man Haron Monis. Credit:Kate Geraghty He believes 50-year-old Monis was "sick and disturbed" and desperately seeking attention over his grievances with government officials that had nothing to do with terrorism, particularly his failure to gain access to his two children. But Mr Habib does not accept that Monis was so mentally deranged that he meant to harm anyone. "I believe this man, in this situation, prepare himself to be shot – but he doesn't want to shoot somebody. He is prepared to be killed but he doesn't want to kill anybody. He is prepared to be harmed but he doesn't want to harm anybody." Other Muslim leaders also offered to help police during the siege in Martin Place on December 15. They included the Grand Mufti of Australia, Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, and Rebecca Kay, who has previously told Fairfax Media: "We felt the only people that could get through to him on a religious level or a cultural level was a member of the community."

None of these offers was accepted and it appears police were unwilling to allow untrained civilians to have any contact with the gunman. However, asked why they did not – or could not – accept the offers, NSW Police said no comment could be made while its "major critical incident investigation" continued with the oversight of the State Coroner. Grand Mufti Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammed says he also offered to help police. Credit:Steven Siewert Mr Habib first met Monis, an Iranian refugee, while they were protesting in support of detainees at the Villawood detention centre. Monis later offered to help Mr Habib in his campaign for the state election of March 2007, in which the Egyptian-Australian took about 4 per cent of the vote. Monis handed out pamphlets, talked to voters and was "smart" with the internet campaign, Mr Habib recalls. In January 2005, the United States had released Mr Habib from Guantanamo Bay without charge after holding him for more than three years. Five years later, an Egyptian intelligence officer confirmed Mr Habib's claim that he had been tortured in the presence of an Australian official. The federal government soon made an undisclosed payment to Mr Habib.

He now dismisses Monis' claim during the siege – via messages delivered by his hostages on YouTube – that he was launching an attack on Australia for Islamic State. I believe this man, in this situation, prepare himself to be shot but he doesn't want to shoot somebody. Mamdouh Habib "He wanted the biggest attention," Mr Habib says. He says he called the federal Attorney-General's office and police twice each during the siege, but neither came back to him. He was willing to enter the cafe but also offered to speak on the phone to Monis and suggested that the hostage taker's family or doctor might also be used as intermediaries. "Whatever he want me to do, I will do it," Mr Habib says, "because we don't want any crime to happen, because we don't want to look bad, because we don't want anybody to say Muslims done this rubbish."

He still refuses to believe Monis fired the shots that killed his hostages. He says judges and magistrates had also decided Monis was not dangerous when they granted him bail in two cases. Monis took his hostages while on bail awaiting trial for being an alleged accessory before and after the fact of the stabbing murder of his former wife; and he was accused of the sexual assault of seven women who had attended his spiritual healing practice in western Sydney. Following Monis' arrest over the murder, police found Mr Habib's number in his phone and called. "What I tell you now I told the police: 'I don't believe this man is violent.' " Claiming he "definitely" could have pacified Monis, he says: "If he tell me what's the problem, I will tell the world. I'll keep my promise and tell the world."