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Tunisia attack: arrests announced as UK sends plane to repatriate victims Tunisia attack: arrests announced as UK sends plane to repatriate victims
(about 1 hour later)
The government is sending an RAF plane to help bring back all UK citizens injured in Friday’s terror attack on a Tunisian beach, as authorities announced the first arrests since the massacre. The government has sent an RAF plane to help bring back UK citizens injured in Friday’s terror attack on a Tunisian beach, as authorities announced the first arrests since the killings.
Downing Street said on Monday that the death toll was likely to rise to around 30, and that an RAF C17 was being sent with medevac teams experienced at repatriating injured service personnel. David Cameron also announced a national minute’s silence on Friday 12pm, a week after the attack. Downing Street said that the British death toll was likely to rise to around 30, and that an RAF C17 was to be sent with teams experienced at repatriating injured service personnel. David Cameron announced that there would be a national minute’s silence at midday on Friday, a week after the attack.
Tunisian authorities said they had arrested a group of suspects linked to the attacker, 23-year-old Seifeddine Rezgui, who killed 38 people on the beach in Sousse on Friday.
Related: Tunisia beach attack: the victimsRelated: Tunisia beach attack: the victims
Downing Street said Tunisian investigators believed that the gunman had operated as part of a group who might have helped by dropping him off close to the hotel. However, officials stressed that no assumptions were being made or definitive lead revealed. Tunisian authorities said they had arrested a group of suspects linked to the attacker, 23-year-old Seifeddine Rezgui, who killed 38 people on the beach in Sousse on Friday.
The home secretary, Theresa May, visited the scene of the massacre at the beach in Sousse, where she laid flowers and observed a period of silence. Downing Street said Tunisian investigators believed the gunman had operated as part of a group that might have helped by dropping him off close to the hotel. Officials stressed, however, that no assumptions were being made or definitive leads revealed.
Calling it a “despicable act of cruelty”, May said at least 18 Britons had died, and that number would rise. She said Tunisia was a “symbol of what is possible”, and a meeting with members of the country’s interior ministry had shown determination to fight the “perverted ideology” that led to the attack. “The terrorists will not win, we are resolved in that,” she said. The home secretary, Theresa May, visited the scene of the killings on Monday, and laid flowers at an impromptu memorial to the dead set up a few metres from the water, beside rows of empty sun loungers.
“What happened here last Friday was a despicable act of cruelty. How could a place of such beauty, of relaxation and happiness, be turned into such a scene of brutality and destruction,” May said at a press conference. At a news conference at the hotel, the interior ministers of Tunisia, the UK, France and Germany promised to fight terrorism together.
She said she had heard “horror stories” of those caught up in the attack and accounts of “great bravery”, including that of Mathew James, who was hit in the hip, chest and pelvis as he shielded wife-to-be Saera Wilson from gunfire. May said: “The young man who shielded his fiancee from the bullets. The staff at the hotel who protected their guests. I would like to thank the Tunisian authorities and Tunisian government and the staff here at the hotel for all they have done to support the victims of this despicable act.” “What happened here last Friday was a despicable act of cruelty,” May said. “How could a place of such beauty be turned into such a scene of brutality and destruction?”
At the same press conference, the Tunisian interior minister Najem Gharsalli announced the arrests but did not give further details. He said officials were still trying to verify whether the attacker had been trained in neighbouring Libya in jihadi camps. She earlier visited the four Britons still being treated in hospitals and clinics in Sousse and said a government plane would arrive on Monday to fly those able to travel home.
John Metcalf, who was shot in the abdomen and spent time in intensive care, is among those who will be leaving. He has been treated at the same hospital as Alison Heathcote, who remains in a medically induced coma.
“She has wounds from bomb fragments; she will stay here, “ said Dr Abdulmajid Msalmi, of the Essalem clinic. “Alison must stay, but John can fly.” Two other patients are undergoing treatment at the public hospital in town.
There are now 18 Britons confirmed dead, but that number would rise May said.
“The government is dispatching a plane to Tunisia to return a number of injured British tourists and that plane will be travelling out to Tunisia today,” she said.
At the same press conference, the Tunisian interior minister, Najem Gharsalli, announced the arrests but gave no further details. He said officials were still trying to verify whether the attacker had been trained in jihadi camps in neighbouring Libya.
As new video emerged that showed the gunman moving through the hotel and its grounds for at least 20 minutes without any response from Tunisian security forces, questions have been asked about whether the country had done enough to protect itself and its guests.
Gharsalli admitted there were many unanswered questions about how Rezgui obtained a weapon, where he learned to use it and whether the hotel he chose had been scoped out before the attack.
“We started to arrest the first part and an important number of the network which was behind this terrorist,” Gharsalli said. “I promise the victims that those killers will face justice.”
Related: Tunisia attack: David Cameron pledges 'full spectrum' response to massacreRelated: Tunisia attack: David Cameron pledges 'full spectrum' response to massacre
Earlier, David Cameron pledged a “full spectrum” response to the massacre. “We are a target,” the prime minister said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “Frankly, we cannot hide from this thinking if you step back you become less of a target. They are attacking our way of life and what we stand for, and so we have to stand united with those that share our values.” The government has launched a crackdown on radical mosques and political parties and deployed army reservists to back up the armed police. Any hotel owner who wants more security only had to ask the government, he said.
Cameron’s spokeswoman said that delays in identifying the dead were due in part to the fact that the holidaymakers may not have been carrying identification at the time of the attack. She said the home secretary would emphasise to the Tunisian authorities the need for swift identification of the victims, but stressed that it was vital to ensure all were correctly identified. “There will be armed security inside the hotels if the owner expresses his desire for that, then the Ministry of Interior is ready to do it.”
In two cases where authorities had feared the worst, individuals thought to have possibly been victims of the gunman had on Monday morning been tracked down alive and well in the UK, she said. May said the British government was looking for concrete ways to work with Tunis in “dealing with this terrible threat that we all face” and said the country must be supported as a beacon of democracy and “symbol of what is possible”.
Scotland Yard has launched an operation involving more than 600 officers, who are questioning returning holidaymakers at UK airports. A smaller team has been sent to Tunisia.
Earlier, Cameron pledged a “full spectrum” response to the killings. “We are a target,” the prime minister said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “Frankly, we cannot hide from this, thinking if you step back you become less of a target. They are attacking our way of life and what we stand for and so we have to stand united with those that share our values.”
Cameron’s spokeswoman said that delays in identifying the dead were caused in part by the fact that the holidaymakers may not have been carrying identification at the time of the attack.
She said the home secretary would emphasise the need for swift identification of the victims to the Tunisian authorities, but stressed that it was vital to ensure all were correctly identified.
In two cases where authorities had feared the worst, the people thought possibly to have been among the gunman’s victims had been tracked down alive and well in the UK on Monday morning, she said.
Sixteen Metropolitan police detectives, forensic science specialists and family liaison officers have arrived in the country and more will join them to assist the investigation.Sixteen Metropolitan police detectives, forensic science specialists and family liaison officers have arrived in the country and more will join them to assist the investigation.
Tunisian investigators said they were seeking one or more accomplices to Rezgui, who was shot dead by police after his assault at the Imperial Marhaba hotel.Tunisian investigators said they were seeking one or more accomplices to Rezgui, who was shot dead by police after his assault at the Imperial Marhaba hotel.
The attack in Tunisia represents the biggest loss of British life to terrorism since the 2005 London bombings, in which 56 people – including the attackers – were killed. The attack represents the biggest loss of British life to terrorism since the 2005 London bombings, in which 56 people – including the attackers – were killed.
The remaining six British holidaymakers who were injured in the attack will be back in Britain in the next 24 hours as British authorities press the Tunisians to speed up the identification of the remaining dozen or so UK citizens believed to have been killed.
Reuters and the Press Association contributed to this reportReuters and the Press Association contributed to this report