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Third Tunisia museum suspect ‘on the run’

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi (L) prays after laying a wreath at the entrance of the National Bardo Museum in Tunis on March 22, 2015 in tribute to the victims of the attack claimed by the Islamic State group/AFP

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi (L) prays after laying a wreath at the entrance of the National Bardo Museum in Tunis on March 22, 2015 in tribute to the victims of the attack claimed by the Islamic State group/AFP

TUNIS, Tunisia, Mar 23 – Tunisia is hunting a third suspect in the massacre of tourists at its national museum, President Beji Caid Essebsi said, after admitting security failures at the Bardo.

“Definitely there were three,” Essebsi told France media iTele television and Europe 1 radio.

“Two were killed, but there is one who is now on the run,” he said. “In any case, he will not get very far.”

Wednesday’s attack on the National Bardo Museum in Tunis killed 20 foreign tourists and a policeman, and was the first assault claimed by the Islamic State group in the North African country.

It came as Tunisia — the birthplace of the Arab Spring that held its first free elections last year — struggles with rising Islamist extremism.

On Saturday, authorities released CCTV footage showing two black-clad gunmen with automatic weapons walking unimpeded though a large lobby in the Bardo, just after noon.

The grainy footage then shows the gunmen passing an unidentified male. They point an automatic weapon at him briefly before letting him leave as they make their way up a staircase.

After rampaging through the museum for several hours, the two gunmen were killed in an assault by security forces.

Secretary of State for Security Rafik Chelly said Sunday on the website of French weekly Paris Match the third person in the video was “one of the two Vespa drivers that brought the killers”, and that he wanted to leave because of the police response.

“The drivers and other logistics people from the cell, a total of 15 people, are already behind bars,” Chelly added. The interior ministry had earlier said more than 10 people were arrested.

– Guards having coffee –

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The interior ministry said on Saturday it had issued an arrest warrant for Maher Ben Moudli Kaidi, a Tunisian suspect described as a “dangerous terrorist element”.

According to Chelly, Kaidi coordinated the attack.

Officials have admitted that guards tasked with protecting the museum and the nearby parliament were having coffee at the time of the assault.

Essebsi acknowledged that more could have been done to prevent the attack, which raised fears for the lucrative tourism sector that represents eight percent of Tunisia’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Museum curator Moncef Ben Moussa told AFP on Sunday the Bardo would reopen on Tuesday and that all of its the artefacts were “intact”.

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