“Units that should have intervened in the events deliberately and unjustifiably slowed down to delay their arrival at the hotel. They had the ability to put an end to the attack before the police arrived but wasted a considerable amount of time in getting to the hotel.”
Clearly there were, and probably are, jihad sympathizers among Tunisian security forces.
“Tunisia beach massacre: Security forces deliberately delayed arrival at Sousse hotel, inquest hears,” by Ben Farmer, Telegraph, January 16, 2017:
Tunisian security forces deliberately delayed their arrival at a terrorist massacre of holidaymakers in which 38 tourists were killed, an inquest has heard.
The inquest into the deaths of 38 tourists including 30 Britons by extremist Seifeddine Rezgui heard that a local investigation criticised some police for stalling as they made their way to the scene of the killings at a Tunisian resort.
Rezgui walked through the Imperial Marhaba hotel in Sousse systematically shooting dead innocent holidaymakers who were only there for enjoyment and relaxation, the High Court heard.
Samantha Leek QC, counsel to the inquest, said a report by Tunisian Judge Akremi had identified failings by local units which could have stopped the massacre before other police arrived and shot Rezgui dead.
She told a courtroom packed with relatives that an unnamed interior minister had told the judge some Tunisian security officers nearby had consciously slowed down their arrival.
Ms Leek said: “He said the units that should have intervened in the events deliberately and unjustifiably slowed down to delay their arrival at the hotel.
“They had the ability to put an end to the attack before the police arrived but wasted a considerable amount of time in getting to the hotel.”
Rezgui approached the hotel with an automatic weapon hidden in a parasol before he opened fire on guests on sun loungers.
The inquest into the shootings on Monday began at the High Court with a minute’s silence for the dead after all the names of the victims had been read out.
Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith said the inquest, expected to last six weeks, would examine the events of the day, but also the security advice given by the Foreign Office and travel agents to holiday makers at the time.
The hearing will also look at the security arrangements put in place at the hotel after terrorists had killed 21 people, mainly tourists, three months earlier at the Bardo hotel in Tunis.
Ms Leek said: “On the 26th of June 2015, 38 tourists became victims of a terrorist attack at the Imperial Marhaba hotel in Sousse.
“On that day a gunman entered the hotel from its beach, carrying an automatic weapon and a number of explosives.
“He systematically took the lives of 38 people who had travelled to Tunisia for relaxation and enjoyment. Thirty eight people who needlessly lost their lives.”
The court heard the gunman was dropped off in a street north of the hotel by an unidentified man driving a white van.
Rezgui then set off south along the beach carrying an automatic weapon hidden in a parasol.
When he reached the hotel’s sun loungers on the beach at the rear of the hotel, he opened fire….