Tunisia beach gunman trained with museum attackers, official says
TUNIS, Tunisia -- One of Tunisia's top security officials says the gunman who killed 38 tourists, mostly Britons, in a beach attack was trained in neighboring Libya at the same time as the attackers who targeted the Bardo museum in March.
Rafik Chelli told The Associated Press Tuesday that Seifeddine Rezgui, a Master's student in electrical engineering at Kairouan University, sneaked into Libya in January and trained near the western town of Sabratha.
The two attackers that carried out the Bardo museum attack in Tunis in March that killed 22 people were there at the same time.
The attack near the resort town of Sousse was the worst in Tunisia's history and has devastated the country's vital tourism sector.
On Monday, Tunisian authorities announced the arrest of seven alleged accomplices of Rezgui.
Tunisian Interior Minister Mohamed Najem Gharsalli on Monday announced the arrests of several Tunisians allegedly from a network behind Rezgui, a 24-year-old student who was killed by police near the scene of the attack.
Authorities said he acted alone during the rampage but had accomplices who supported him beforehand, providing him with weapons and logistical support.
A person close to the investigation told The Associated Press that seven people were arrested in at least three different cities and were being interrogated in the capital Monday. The person was not authorized to be publicly named speaking about the investigation.
The arrests came as dramatic new video revealed the choas caused by the gunman's attack. Cell phone video shot by a hotel employee shows that after Rezgui ran out of targets on the beach, he entered the hotel grounds to hunt for more victims.
British officials confirmed that most of the dead were British, and Prime Minister David Cameron said it was time for his country to become "intolerant of intolerance" and crack down on the ideas that fuel terrorism inspired by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Cameron's office said that 18 Britons have been confirmed dead, and the total is expected to rise to around 30.