Britain wants to extradite Sousse terror suspects

Speculation is mounting that Britain’s relations with Tunisia have become strained after discussions about the extradition of Sousse terror suspects to the UK were rejected. Less than 24 hours after Tunisia’s prime minister announced that it would refuse to hand over any of its nationals, the government in Westminster ordered the evacuation of all British tourists.

Of the 38 who died in the Sousse beach massacre, 30 were British nationals and it is understood that, as a result, the possibility of extradition and a show trial being held in London was raised.

Ten British investigators were flown to Tunisia within hours of the 26 June massacre to assist in the investigation and co-ordinate security in the hunt for other suspects connected to the case. However, despite co-operation and intelligence-sharing between both countries, the prime minister in Tunis has made it clear that any suspects will be investigated and tried under Tunisian law. In a televised interview, Habib Essid said that Tunisia “has no intention of handing over its sons to foreign judges if they are suspected of involvement in recent events in Sousse.”

A British intelligence source said that it is a “delicate” subject. “However, since the majority of those killed were British there is a feeling that they were deliberately targeted. It would make sense to have suspects extradited and tried in Britain but the Tunisian authorities see this, wrongly, as an attack on their sovereignty.”

International human rights lawyer and expert on extradition issues Saghir Hussain said that the Tunisian stance is not surprising. “The Tunisian government would take offence at this suggestion otherwise it gives the impression that it is incapable of running its own judicial system,” he explained. “Tunisia has said that it will not extradite suspects and the UK should respect that decision and continue to help and assist in any due process. It would’ve been odd for the Tunisian government to agree to hand over any suspects because that would be viewed as an admission it cannot manage its own affairs, which is clearly not the case.”

The London-based lawyer added his hope that “the British Government will not resort to exerting undue pressure on its Tunisian counterpart on this issue.”

There are, though, those who fear that this is the real reason for the dramatic exodus of 3,000 British tourists less than 24 hours after Essid announced that there would be no extraditions. One Tunisian hotelier who suspects that it is a tit-for-tat reaction fears that the loss of British tourists will affect the country’s tourism industry severely.

“It is quite obvious that Britain wants to hold a big show trial in its own country and so it would need to extradite any suspects,” he said. “It’s the sort of thing the Americans would demand but Britain is not America.”

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the hotelier insisted that it’s no coincidence that a day after Tunisia’s prime minister said that there’d be no extradition he and his colleagues were suddenly told that all British tourists must return home. “There was no good reason given to do this two weeks after the attack. Security has improved and the tourists were relaxed and happy with the arrangements made for them. We cried when they left because it will mean the destruction of our hotels and tourist trade.” He added that at the moment you can stay in a 5-star hotel on the beach for £20 a night.

The British government admitted when it made its announcement on 9 July — 10 days after the Sousse attack — that there was no “specific or imminent” new threat. Nevertheless, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said at the time that a security assessment in tourist areas found that more work was needed “to protect tourists effectively from the terrorist threat.”

A Foreign Office spokesman declined to comment on the Tunisian claims linking the extradition with the withdrawal of tourists, saying that the issue of extradition was a matter for the Home Office. A spokesperson there said: “We never comment on extraditions. If and when an arrest is made a decision would then be taken.” Tunisia and Britain have no mutual extradition treaty or agreements in place which would see Tunisian nationals tried in the UK under English law.

Earlier this week, Tunisian Foreign Minister Taieb Baccouche urged Britain to reverse its decision advising citizens against all but essential travel to Tunisia. “There is a lot of work to be done in order to convince Britain to reverse its decision,” he said at a Tunis press conference, “and there is interest from British officials in this regard, especially some lawmakers who are unconvinced by the decision.”

A delegation which included Parliamentary Speaker Mohammed Nasser, the heads of parliamentary blocs, Minister of Tourism Salma Lummi, Transport Minister Mahmoud Bin Ramadan and director of the Imperial Hotel, Zahra Idris, visited London a few days ago in a bid to revive confidence in Tunisia as a tourist destination. Tourism is estimated to contribute more than 15 per cent of Tunisia’s GDP, with the industry supporting nearly a quarter of a million jobs. There are fears that the country’s economy will be hit severely as a result of the terror attack.

Tunisia is the one success story emerging from the Arab Spring, which saw the fledgling democracy of Egypt crash and burn with a military coup in 2013 and Libya implode over a violent power struggle in 2014. Meanwhile, Syria and Yemen continue to be torn apart by civil wars aided and abetted by the interference of foreign forces in both countries.

It remains to be seen if Britain will respect Tunisia’s sovereignty and allow tourists to return to the North African country, or if David Cameron’s government will use non-violent interference in Tunisian affairs and effectively destroy its tourism industry in what can best be described as a fit of pique.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.