Tunisia declares emergency
President: 30-day move enforced in response to beach massacre
President Beji Caid Essebsi declared a state of emergency following last week’s beach massacre claimed by militants that he said had left Tunisia facing a “special type of war”.
In another firm response to the June 26 attack claimed by the Islamic State group that killed 38 foreign tourists, several officials were sacked, including the governor of the Sousse region where it took place.
The North African state, which has seen an exodus of tourists, has admitted its security services were unprepared for the seaside attack in Port El Kantaoui and that police were too slow to respond.
In a televised address to the nation, Essebsi said the state of emergency, effective from Saturday for a 30-day period, was decided on after consultations with the parliament speaker and prime minister.
The measure was adopted because of “the exceptional situation which the country is going through after the latest terrorist attack and the persistent threats which place the country in a special type of war”, he said.
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 allows the authorities to carry out raids on homes at any time of the day and to keep tabs on the media.
Independent political analyst Selim Kharrat questioned the timing of Essebsi’s announcement, eight days after the beach attack, and warned that a state of emergency “could become an excellent tool of repression”.
An aide to Tunisia’s prime minister said on Saturday that several officials, including the Sousse governor and those from the assailant’s home town and where he studied, as well as police officers, had been sacked.
“Just as there have been security failures, there have also been political failures,” the premier’s communications adviser Dhafer Neji said. — AFP