The Tunisian gunman who attacked a resort hotel on Friday killing 39 people, mostly British holiday-makers, likely spent time a training camp in Libya and had been in contact with militants over the border, a security source said on Tuesday.
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British Home Secretary Theresa May, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere and Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon joined their Tunisian counterpart on the beach in front of the Imperial Marhaba hotel in the Mediterranean resort of Sousse for the tribute Monday.
He was referring to the 23-year-old Tunisian engineering student Seifeddine Rezgui who was shot dead by police after he allegedly carried out the massacre in Sousse with a Kalashnikov rifle, disguised as a tourist.
Tunisian authorities have stepped up security as they investigate whether the gunman they say was responsible for the attack, Saif Al-Deen Al Rezgui, had accomplices in Friday’s deadly shooting at a beach hotel in Sousse.
Cameron said he shared the “frustration” of families waiting for news but noted the difficulty of the process as many tourists had not been carrying identification or were too disfigured.
The British holiday giant Tui said yesterday that 4,000 of its customers had returned to the United Kingdom after the attack, adding that it had offered customers due to travel to the country before 4 July the chance to cancel or change their booking.
In France, a decapitated body daubed with Arabic writing was found, and in Kuwait a suicide bomber killed two dozen people at a mosque in Kuwait.
The number of Britons killed in the attack is expected to rise to at least 30, making it the country with the highest death toll.
The U.K.’sRoyal Air Force dispatched a C-17 transport plane on Monday to collect four Britons injured in the attack. “We just want to make sure terrorists don’t have a safe place to communicate”. “There is more police now”, John Edwards said. “They have declared war on us… whether we like it or not”, he added.
At the beach, Ted and Dawn from Suffolk laid down fresh flowers in memory of the dead.
Prime Minister David Cameron has vowed to defeat “ruthless, senseless and barbaric” ISIL militants, calling on Britain to fight back “intolerant” Islamists.
“We have been left with a massive hole in our hearts”.
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Praised for its new constitution and free elections after the ousting of autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia has still struggled with the rise of the fundamentalist Islamist movements that flourished in the turmoil immediately following the uprising.
