UK warns nationals to leave Tunisia

The UK warned about 3,000 nationals in Tunisia that local authorities could not provide "adequate protection" after a beach massacre killed 30 Britons on holiday.

The Foreign Office advised against all but essential travel to Tunisia, a popular holiday destination for Britons and recommended that tourists on package holidays contact their travel agents to arrange flights to bring them home.

"If you're in Tunisia and you don't have an essential need to remain, you should leave by commercial means," British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said. Speaking on the sidelines of talks about Iran's nuclear program in Vienna on Thursday, Hammond added that British authorities had contacted tour operators to arrange to get their customers home "as quickly as possible" and added for "those traveling independently, our advice is to return on commercial flights which are operating normally."

On Saturday, more than a week after the Sousse attack, Tunisian authorities announced a 30-day state of emergency and enacted new security measures, such as sending more than 1,300 forces to patrol hotels, beaches and other tourist sites. Officials have also made several arrests. However, in a statement, the UK Foreign Office announced that it had updated its travel advice because "we do not believe the mitigation measures in place provide adequate protection for British tourists in Tunisia."

The travel company Thomas Cook, which has about 2,000 British customers in Tunisia, announced that it would bring customers back on its 10 scheduled flights this weekend, and use other airlines if needed. Spokesman Ian Benjafield said the company would get people home "whatever way we can." The tour operators Thomson and First Choice announced that they had canceled all flights to Tunisia for the rest of the season, until October 31.

The mass shooting occurred just two weeks before the 10-year anniversary of London's 7/7 attacks.

'Particularly vigilant'

German officials plan to observe the situation very closely and adjust travel advice regularly but the Foreign Ministry did not immediately change its travel advice, last updated five days ago. Two Germans died in the Sousse attack. Three Irish nationals, one Belgian, one Portuguese and a Russian were also killed.

On Wednesday, France's Foreign Ministry renewed its recommendation for nationals in Tunisia to remain "particularly vigilant," but stopped short of advising them to return home.

Attacks have taken a toll on Tunisia's tourism industry. In March, more than 20 people died in an attack at the National Bardo Museum outside Tunis.

mkg/rc (Reuters, AFP, AP)