TUNISIA-SECURITY/NEWSER Tunisia arrests suspects associated with beach hotel attacker

Record ID: 148953

  • Title: TUNISIA-SECURITY/NEWSER Tunisia arrests suspects associated with beach hotel attacker
  • Date: 29th June 2015
  • Summary: SOUSSE, TUNISIA (JUNE 29, 2015) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** MINISTERS ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER, BERNARD CAZENEUVE, GERMAN INTERIOR MINISTER, THOMAS DE MAIZIERE, TUNISIAN INTERIOR MINISTER, NAJEM GHARSALLI, BRITISH HOME SECRETARY, THERESA MAY, AND JUNIOR BRITISH FOREIGN OFFICE MINISTER, TOBIAS ELLWOOD, BEFORE NEWS CONFEREN
  • Embargoed: 14th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Tunisia
  • Country: Tunisia
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA2DB86C2KUW0IAR59ICK33QH1H
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Tunisian authorities have arrested a group of suspects associated with the gunman who killed 39 people, mainly British tourists, in an attack on a beach hotel, the interior minister said on Monday (June 29).
    Najem Gharsalli made the announcement during a joint news conference by ministers from Britain, France and Germany.
    Islamic State has claimed responsibility for last Friday's assault on the Imperial Marhaba hotel in the resort town of Sousse. The gunman, Saif Rezgui, was shot dead by police.
    The number of Britons confirmed killed by the Islamist gunman in Friday's attack has risen to 18 from 15 and the final death toll of Britons is likely to increase to around 30 people, a British spokeswoman said.
    British Home Secretary Teresa May said all the countries who lost their citizens in the attack were united in the face of the "perverted ideology" behind the attack.
    "We are very clear that the terrorists will not win. We will be united in working together to defeat them, but united also in working to defend our values," she said.
    Her French counterpart Bernard Cazeneuve called for more cooperation in the fight against militants.
    May chaired an emergency meeting of Britain's COBRA crisis response committee on Sunday (June 28). She said British officials will assess security measures in the region.
    Tunisian minister Gharsalli did not give further details of the arrests, other than saying officials were still verifying whether the attacker had been trained in neighbouring Libya in jihadist camps.
    "We've started to arrest a number of those who we will not identify, but we will say they are Tunisian. Everything is still open and all questions are still valid, we are still in the beginning of our research," he said.
    Thousands of tourists have left Tunisia since Friday's attack, which has shocked a country that relies heavily on tourism for jobs and foreign currency revenues.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register