Authorities in Tunisia suffered from a catastrophic failure of intelligence over the massacre of tourists at the beach resort in Sousse. Police admitted in the hours after the bloodbath that they had no idea that Seifeddine Rezgui was a terrorist threat, The Independent has learned.
The deaths of 38 holidaymakers and the ensuing damaging impact for the country’s tourist industry has led to a massive crackdown by the Tunisian government followed by a series of arrests. Interior Ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui stated that three of those detained on Monday were young men who had shared a house with the 23-year-old killer in the city of Kairouan.
The suspects are being questioned over possible links to the supply of weapons, documentation and planning of the attacks. Officials say that the investigation is also looking at whether Rezgui received combat training during a visit to Libya three months ago.
It has emerged, meanwhile, that the authorities were desperately short of information following the murders. Police found Rezgui’s student registration card in his blood-soaked clothing after shooting him dead and rushed to his college, asking staff to help them build up a picture of him.
Tunisian Interior Minister Mohamed Gharsali said that those arrested in the past 24 hours were “from the network that was behind this terrorist criminal”. But according to staff at l’Institut Superior des Sciences Appliquees et de Technologie (Issat) in Kairouan, where Rezgui studied, Ministry of Interior officials and police officers had said earlier that they had no knowledge that he was a member of a jihadist network.
Karem Belgharag, secretary general and head of administration at Issat, said he received a telephone call from the Ministry of Interior an hour and half after the murders on Friday afternoon saying Rezgui’s student card connected him to the college.
“I was still in a state of shock when the police arrived 10 minutes later. There were six or seven of them, they too seemed to be in shock. They said he had never been a suspect for anything and they were desperate for anything we could give them,” said Mr Belgharag.
“We gave them all the files we had on him they were very grateful. They took away his laptop. Since then we have had four more visits from different law agencies; they have spoken to teachers and students, they are devoting a lot of resources to it now.”
