TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) – Thirty-eight tourists died in a gun attack just days before Tunisia planned to implement heightened security measures for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, but those plans had not anticipated an assault on tourist beaches, the country’s president said Tuesday.
In an interview with Europe 1 radio, Beji Caid Essebsi said an investigation was underway into security failures, and there would now be armed tourist police on the beaches and army reservists had been called up.
“It is not a perfect system – it is true we were surprised by this affair,” he said. “They took measures for the month of Ramadan but never did they think the attack would be on the beaches against tourists and the system of protection was set to start July 1.”
Essebsi, 88, is a veteran of Tunisia’s pre-revolutionary regime and was elected last fall on a platform of restoring security and dignity to the state.
Tunisia’s vital tourism sector suffered a staggering blow when a young electric engineering student pulled out an assault rifle at a beach near Sousse and killed 38 tourists, mostly Britons. The rampage continued for around half an hour before he was shot by police.
Since the attack, authorities have shut 80 unregulated mosques believed to preach radical doctrine, and have considered closing organizations and political parties promoting ideas counter to the constitution.
“What is threatened is our way of life and society,” Essebsi said, praising Tunisia as one of the only democracies in the region. “It is not easy being the exception, we should be the model, but it is a model not yet accepted by the others.”
He said Tunisia needs more assistance in securing its frontiers, especially with Libya, home to supporters of the radical Islamic State group which claimed responsibility for the attack.