Police have rushed in and grabbed a man from a car after a stand-off outside NSW Parliament. Source: AAP
A DISGRUNTLED former taxi driver who sparked a two-hour stand-off outside NSW Parliament has been charged.
Abdula Ganiji has been charged with threatening sabotage and possessing an explosive or article to damage property.
He has also been charged with threatening to destroy or damage property, police said.
It comes several hours after Ganiji sparked a lockdown of Macquarie Street in Sydney's CBD when he drove his white Chrysler sedan onto the footpath outside parliament at about 11.40am (AEDT) on Friday.
A large part of the street was quickly cordoned off and MPs and staff in parliament house were warned to keep clear of the front of the building.
For over two hours the 58-year-old from the Wollongong area passed lists of demands from inside the car to plain-clothes police negotiators.
Hundreds of city workers gathered at the police cordon and parliament went into partial lockdown, before the siege ended dramatically just before 2pm (AEDT).
There were loud bangs and flashes as up to a dozen heavily armed tactical officers swarmed the vehicle, smashing the car's windows and firing a canister of gas inside before dragging Ganiji into custody.
Police later said he had made threats of self harm, was known to police and was a regular visitor at parliament.
After he was handcuffed and dragged off for medical checks, police officers and firefighters removed a device from the car before conducting tests on the vehicle.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch told reporters the man had a container of flammable liquid, which AAP understands was petrol, which he was threatening to set alight.
Mr Murdoch praised the quick actions of police.
"When that man attempted to light a cigarette lighter, wind the windows of the car up with what we believe to be a container of flammable liquid in the vehicle, those officers put their lives on the line this afternoon and they resolved the situation in a peaceful manner," he said.
The man was receiving medical attention for minor cuts suffered in the struggle with police, Mr Murdoch said, but compared to the threats he was making those injuries were "very, very minor in the scheme of things".
"The mere fact we're in front of our state parliament, in the middle of Sydney in the middle of the day - certainly that posed a risk," Mr Murdoch said.
"(But) at no time was any member of the community at risk, no one in any building was at risk and importantly no members of parliament were at risk because of this incident.
"We were very comfortable at all times that we had the measure of the fellow."
Mr Murdoch could not confirm reports the man had sought a meeting with Premier Barry O'Farrell, who stayed inside parliament throughout.
"He was making certain demands of the police but we weren't in a position to meet those demands, nor were we ever in a position to entertain them," he said.
"Our whole tactic was to contain and negotiate with the man.
Ganiji last year staged a hunger strike for several days outside parliament about a $200 fine he received 15 years ago.
He had called on Mr O'Farrell to solve a dispute with his employer, Wollongong Radio Cabs.
Ganiji told the Illawarra Mercury newspaper last year he was fined by the company for misusing his taxi radio by clicking the buttons unnecessarily, causing problems on the communications network.
He has been refused bail to appear at Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday.
Police said investigations into the incident were continuing.
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