Australia’s prime minister said Thursday he will consider granting citizenship to a Pakistani security guard injured in a stabbing attack at a shopping mall in Sydney.
After the stabbing, security guard Mohammed Taha said he “deserves recognition and citizenship consideration.”
In a bedside interview with The Australian, Taha said Pakistani security guard Faraz Tahir, one of the six people killed at the Westfield shopping complex in Bondi Junction, had been attacked.
The newspaper said that Taha had a postgraduate visa for less than a month. The video shared on social media by the French Damien Guerot, who was called “bollard man”, stepped forward Joel Cauchi to protect him.
“Yes, of course we will,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a radio interview about whether the Australian government would grant Taha’s citizenship request.
Albanians described Faraz Tahir’s killing as a “tragedy”.
“This man, Mohammed Taha, faced the criminal, Joel Cauchi, on Saturday. It showed incredible courage,” he said.
Both Albanians said they put themselves in danger to protect the Australians, whom they did not know. “This is the courage that we want to publicly thank.”
Albans said Guerot will get the permanent housing he is seeking on Thursday.
On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron praised Guerot and his colleague Silas Desprea for their efforts to stop the mall attackers.
Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Australia, Zahid Hafeez Chaudhry, visited Taha in hospital today and said his condition had improved.
“Taha and Faraz other Pakistanis set an example to stand against knife attackers. They make us proud,” he said.
