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Tunisia attack: Report warned UK about resort security Tunisia attack: No armed guards at hotel where 38 killed
(about 5 hours later)
The security of a Tunisian resort where 30 Britons were killed in a gun attack in June 2015 had been questioned six months before, an inquest has heard. Four unarmed guards manned the Tunisian hotel where 30 Britons were killed in 2015 despite the resort being a known terror risk, an inquest has heard.
A report from January 2015 for the UK government had raised concerns about the beach entrance of the Riu Imperial Marhaba, near Sousse. Former manager Mehrez Saadi told the inquests into the British deaths that gardeners had briefly doubled as security guards the previous year.
Islamist gunman Seifeddine Rezgui killed 10 people on the beach before entering the five-star hotel from the sand - 38 people died in total. Islamist gunman Seifeddine Rezgui killed 38 people in total at the five-star Riu Imperial Marhaba, near Sousse.
He was killed by police an hour later.
The attack was the deadliest on Britons since the 7 July 2005 London bombings.The attack was the deadliest on Britons since the 7 July 2005 London bombings.
On the second day of the hearings into the Britons' deaths - held at London's Royal Courts of Justice - Andrew Ritchie QC, who represents 20 of the victims' families, read extracts from the heavily redacted report. UK officials had also been told of security concerns in Sousse six months before the attack in June 2015, but decided against discouraging all travel to Tunisia, the inquests heard.
It had looked at the security of around 30 hotels in three Mediterranean resorts. The inquests, being held at London's Royal Courts of Justice, heard a report by a UK embassy official in January that said there was "little in the way of effective security" to protect an attack from the beach.
The resort had previously been targeted by a suicide bomber in 2013, who had killed only himself, the inquest heard. Mr Saadi also revealed just four unarmed, untrained security guards were protecting the 631 guests and the CCTV camera at the front entrance was not working on the day of the attack.
Mr Ritchie said: "Given that the attack on the Riadh Palms Hotel in October 2013 was launched from the beach, particular attention was paid to the beach access points. Andrew Ritchie QC, who represents 20 of the victims' families, quoted from the heavily-redacted report into the security of about 30 hotels, including the Riu Imperial Marhaba, in three neighbouring Mediterranean resorts on the Tunisian coast.
"[The report] said 'Despite some good security infrastructure around the hotels and resorts, there seems to be little in the way of effective security to prevent or respond to an attack [from the beach]'." He said the report had paid particular attention to beach access points after an attack on the Riadh Palms Hotel in Sousse October 2013 was launched from the beach.
A counter-terrorism assessment for the Foreign Office days after the 2015 attack also raised concerns about the resort's security. In that attack the suicide bomber killed only himself, the inquest heard.
The review by the Tunisian security assessment team found "facilities security at the hotels to be generally of a low standard" although "some hotels had better security". In a YouTube video from December 2014 mentioned in the report, extremists linked to the self-styled Islamic State group warned they would target tourists in the area.
Jane Marriott, a director of the Foreign Office's Middle East North Africa directorate at the time of the attack, told the hearing that because Tunisia had been a dictatorship before the revolution in 2010, there was "little public desire for a more intrusive police presence". Hotel manager Mr Saadi told the court in a statement that after a tip-off in summer 2014, the hotel had asked its gardeners to also work as security guards for about a week.
Arab Spring fears
The government's travel advice website had warned in June 2015 that there was a "high risk of terrorism" in Tunisia, but stopped short of telling tourists not to visit.
This was despite an attack on the Bardo Museum in the country's capital, Tunis, four months earlier, in which 24 people were killed, including 20 tourists.
Jane Marriott, the Foreign Office's Middle East and North Africa director at the time of the attack, told the inquests there had been "little public desire for a more intrusive police presence in Tunisia", which had been a dictatorship before the Arab Spring revolution in 2010.
She added: "This made it difficult for the authorities to be proactive with security."She added: "This made it difficult for the authorities to be proactive with security."
Mr Ritchie told the inquest a Briton who had survived the attack, Paul Thompson, had been advised by travel agent TUI in his hometown of Ilkeston, Derbyshire, that it was "100% safe" to go to Sousse. The inquest was shown an extract from minutes of a meeting between UK embassy officials and tour operators in Tunisia shortly after the Bardo attack.
This was despite an attack on the Bardo Museum in the country's capital, Tunis, in March 2015, in which 24 people were killed, including 20 tourists. The travel agent had claimed it was a "one-off" incident.
In reference to Mr Thompson's case, when asked about the agreement with the Foreign Office for travel agents to direct travellers to the government website for advice, Ms Marriott said: "We would expect this (travel) information to be flagged up."
She also told the court that Hamish Cowell, the UK ambassador to Tunisia from 2013 until December last year, had taken his family to Sousse on holiday in May, two months after the Bardo attack and less than two months before the beach shootings.
'Knee-jerk reaction'
The inquest was also shown an extract from minutes of a meeting between UK embassy officials and tour operators in Tunisia shortly after the Bardo attack.
It said: "Following the incident, the knee-jerk reaction was to pull British tourists out of Tunisia.It said: "Following the incident, the knee-jerk reaction was to pull British tourists out of Tunisia.
"Embassy staff here in Tunisia lobbied hard to retain the tourists here in Tunisia but agreed to strengthen the text of the travel advice to reflect the severity of the incident." "Embassy staff... lobbied hard to retain the tourists here in Tunisia, but agreed to strengthen the text of the travel advice to reflect the severity of the incident."
Ms Marriott, who was not at the meeting, told the court: "The 'knee-jerk reaction' could be a reference to anybody. I hope not British officials." Ms Marriott also told the court that Hamish Cowell, the UK ambassador to Tunisia from 2013 until December last year, had taken his family to Sousse on holiday in May - two months after the Bardo attack and less than two months before the beach shootings.
The so-called Islamic State militant group said it was behind the resort attack by Tunisian student Seifeddine Rezgui. The court also heard from survivor Paul Thompson, who had been advised by his travel agent TUI that it was "100% safe" to go to Sousse.
Mr Ritchie told the inquest the government had been aware that activists linked to the group had warned they would target tourists, in a video posted on YouTube in December 2014. Mr Thompson had gone to a shop in his home town of Ilkeston, Derbyshire, in May 2015 with his daughter, where he was told that the Bardo attack had been a "one-off", Mr Ritchie told the inquest.
The inquest has previously heard that official guidance for tourists to Tunisia had said there was a "high risk of terrorism" at the time of the Sousse attack.
National security
This had not been updated to the highest level of advising against all travel, despite the attack on the museum weeks earlier.
Over the next seven weeks, the inquest will examine whether the UK government and travel firms failed in their responsibility to protect British tourists.Over the next seven weeks, the inquest will examine whether the UK government and travel firms failed in their responsibility to protect British tourists.
The government has applied for some details to be kept private because of national security concerns.The government has applied for some details to be kept private because of national security concerns.