TUNIS: A state of emergency imposed in Tunisia after a gunman killed 38 foreign tourists in June is to be extended for two months, the president’s office announced.
“After consultations with the prime minister and the speaker, the president has decided to extend the state of emergency in force nationwide for two months from Aug. 3,” a statement said.
The decision was criticized by rights groups, who warned that Tunisia’s new security measures were “open to abuse” by authorities.
On July 4, eight days after the shooting massacre at the Mediterranean resort of Port El Kantaoui, President Beji Caid Essebsi ordered a state of emergency for an initial 30 days.
Presidency spokesman Moez Sinaoui told AFP the state of emergency had been extended because Tunisia remained “at war against terrorism.”
The decision was not the result of a specific threat “but because the causes (of its initial imposition) are still there,” Sinaoui said.
The state of emergency was one of a raft of measures introduced by the authorities after the seaside massacre, which dealt a heavy blow to Tunisia’s key tourism industry.
The government began arming tourism police for the first time and reinforced them with troops in a bid to reassure foreign governments.
But Britain, whose nationals accounted for 30 of the dead, warned against all but essential travel to Tunisia, saying more needed to be done to make it a safe holiday destination.
On Friday, the European Union said it was providing 116.8 million euros ($129.4 million) to Tunisia as part of annual funding aimed in part at boosting security.
“A strong and democratic Tunisia is vital for the stability of Europe,” EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement.
A state of emergency, granting special powers to the police and army, was in force for three years up until March 2014, following longtime secular president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s ouster in a 2011 revolution.
Apart from allowing the barring of strike action, the measure authorizes the authorities to raid homes at any time of the day and to keep tabs on the media.
Tunisia last week passed a new anti-terror bill, which approved the imposition of the death penalty for “terrorist” crimes.
Eight advocacy groups, including Human Rights Watch, said Friday that the new law “imperils human rights,” calling on Parliament to implement safeguards, including an assurance that suspects have access to a lawyer from the time of arrest.
Tunisia emergency extended by 2 months
Tunisia emergency extended by 2 months
Hundreds mourn in Syria’s Homs after deadly mosque bombing
- Officials have said the preliminary investigations indicate explosive devices were planted inside the mosque but have not yet publicly identified a suspect
HOMS: Hundreds of mourners gathered Saturday despite rain and cold outside of a mosque in the Syrian city of Homs where a bombing the day before killed eight people and wounded 18.
The crowd gathered next to the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque in the Wadi Al-Dhahab neighborhood, where the population is predominantly from the Alawite minority, before driving in convoys to bury the victims.
Officials have said the preliminary investigations indicate explosive devices were planted inside the mosque but have not yet publicly identified a suspect.
A little-known group calling itself Saraya Ansar Al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on its Telegram channel, in which it indicated that the attack intended to target members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam whom hard-line Islamists consider to be apostates.
The same group had previously claimed a suicide attack in June in which a gunman opened fire and then detonated an explosive vest inside a Greek Orthodox church in Dweil’a, on the outskirts of Damascus, killing 25 people as worshippers prayed on a Sunday.
A neighbor of the mosque, who asked to be identified only by the honorific Abu Ahmad (“father of Ahmad“) out of security concerns, said he was at home when he heard the sound of a “very very strong explosion.”
He and other neighbors went to the mosque and saw terrified people running out of it, he said. They entered and began trying to help the wounded, amid blood and scattered body parts on the floor.
While the neighborhood is primarily Alawite, he said the mosque had always been open to members of all sects to pray.
“It’s the house of God,” he said. “The mosque’s door is open to everyone. No one ever asked questions. Whoever wants to enter can enter.”
Mourners were unable to enter the mosque to pray Saturday because the crime scene remained cordoned off, so they prayed outside.
Some then marched through the streets chanting “Ya Ali,” in reference to the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law whom Shiite Muslims consider to be his rightful successor.
