Australian PM offers condolences to families of Sydney siege victims in parliament

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has offered sympathies to the families of the Sydney siege victims in a motion of condolence in parliament on Monday afternoon.

The motion was attended by the family members of deceased victims, Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson.

Abbott described the Dec. 15 tragedy -- when a gunman, Man Haron Monis, held 18 people captive for 16 hours in a cafe in Sydney's CBD -- as a "horrific experience" that would not be forgotten by the Australian people.

"Every day must be a struggle," he said, as he looked up to the public gallery. "We grieve with you."

Abbott said measures would be implemented to ensure that such an act did not occur on Australian soil again.

"We want to assure all Australians that this government is determined to learn what happened at the Lindt cafe on that day."

His comments came a day after siege victim Marcia Mikhael slammed the rescue operation, claiming that although police did the best they could in the situation, they were disorganized and not properly equipped.

"I know there are a lot of officers who risked their lives to be there and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. Don't get me wrong, I'm not being ungrateful to them," Mikhael told local media on Sunday night.

"I just think that maybe the Army would've been better, more appropriate to be handling this situation."

Abbott was thankful to police and security agencies for their efforts in defusing the situation, a notion that opposition leader Bill Shorten echoed in parliament.

"We understand that no words ... can bring back that voice too soon silenced," Shorten said. "Australia is here for you."

Monis was killed when police stormed the cafe in the early hours of Dec. 16 morning, after he had shot Johnson in an execution-style killing. Dawson was found to have died after being struck by fragments of bullets fired by police as they entered the building, an inquest into the incident showed. Endi