PARIS
France will grant citizenship to a Malian Muslim man for his role in saving the lives of people during a supermarket hostage crisis in the country on Jan. 9, French Interior Ministry announced Thursday.
Lassana Bathily, 24, is credited with saving the lives of at least 15 people. Bathily reportedly ushered several shoppers into a freezer in the kosher market at Porte de Vincennes when Amedy Coulibaly, a heavily armed attacker, attacked. Four hostages died in that incident.
Bathily would be granted citizenship after more than 200,000 people signed a petition calling on the French government to honor the Malian.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the official ceremony to grant Bathily citizenship would take place on Jan. 20.
France saw the worst terrorist attacks on its soil in decades. At least 12 people were killed on Jan.7 when two armed attackers, known as the Kouachi brothers, opened fire on the staff of a French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo. On Jan. 9, the Kouachi brothers were killed on the outskirts of Paris in a separate hostage incident, while police took down Coulibaly at the supermarket.
After the attacks, French President Francois Hollande invited world leaders to attend a unity rally, which also saw the participation of Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
