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Muslim hero of attack on kosher grocery in Paris gets French citizenship

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Malian Lassana Bathily, a Muslim employee who helped Jewish shoppers hide in a cold storage room from an islamist gunman during the January 9, 2015 attack, poses on January 15 in Paris. Four people were killed by jihadist Amedy Coulibaly in a hostage-taking drama at a kosher supermarket in Paris. AFP PHOTO / FRANCOIS GUILLOTFRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty Images
Malian Lassana Bathily is a Muslim employee of a kosher grocer in Paris. He helped Jewish shoppers hide in a cold storage room from a gunman during the Jan. 9 attack on the market. Four people were killed. (Francoi Guillot/AFP/Getty Images)

Agence-France Press reports:

A Malian described as a "hero" after he helped hostages at a Jewish supermarket hide during last week's Paris attacks will be awarded French nationality Tuesday, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.

Lassana Bathily, who has lived in France since 2006 and applied for French nationality in July of last year, was praised for his "bravery" in a statement by Cazeneuve, which also said the 24-year-old Malian's naturalisation will be granted at a ceremony on Tuesday….

"We're brothers. It's not a question of Jews, Christians or Muslims," [Bathily] told French news channel BFMTV. "We're all in the same boat, and we have to help one another to get out of this crisis."

It's the right thing to do and the smart thing to do.