Bondi Beach attack suspects kept to themselves during Philippines stay, hotel staff member recalls

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The GV Hotel - where the suspected gunmen stayed - sits alongside travel agencies, remittance centres, pawnshops, a hardware store, an appliance store and a few strip clubs, in Mindanaos Davao City.

PHOTO: REUTERS

Summary

• Sajid and Naveed Akram, accused in the Sydney Bondi Beach attack, stayed at GV Hotel in Davao City, Philippines, arriving on November 1, 2023.
• Hotel staff reported limited interaction with the Akrams, who mostly stayed in their room, rarely spoke, and had no visitors.
• Philippine authorities and local Muslim leaders found no evidence of extremist training or community engagement during their brief stay.

AI generated

DAVAO CITY, Philippines - When the two gunmen accused of attacking a Hanukkah event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach travelled to the Philippines in November, they kept to themselves most of the time and barely left their room, a hotel staff member said.

When they did, it was almost always around 9am and lasted just a little over an hour, said the worker, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity after the hotel’s management ordered its staff not to talk to media.

Police allege Sajid Akram, 50, and his son Naveed, 24,

killed 15 people on Dec 14

Authorities say the attack, which shocked Australia and led to fears of rising anti-Semitism, appears to have been inspired by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or