World Powers Strongly Condemn Tunis Attack, Express Solidarity
France condemned Wednesday a bloody armed attack on a museum in the Tunisian capital in which 17 tourists from Poland, Italy, Germany and Spain were killed.
"I condemn this terrorist attack in the strongest terms. There has been a hostage-taking, without doubt tourists have been affected, killed," French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said in Brussels after talks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
"This attack cruelly illustrates the threat that we are all confronted with in Europe, in the Mediterranean, around the world. France, Tunisia and Europe will act together to fight terrorism," Valls added.
Juncker said he was also following events in Tunis, adding that he did not want to say much "because there is a hostage situation."
French President Francois Hollande later expressed his country's "solidarity" with Tunisia.
In a brief call with his Tunisian counterpart Beji Caid Essebsi, Hollande expressed "the solidarity of France with ... the Tunisian people in this very grave moment," a source close to Hollande's office said.
Tunisian officials said at least 17 foreigners were killed in the brazen daytime attack on the Bardo Museum, after dozens of tourists were evacuated.
State TV said the two gunmen and a policeman were killed and that the incident was over.
France has taken a strong stance on terror-related issues since January's deadly Paris attacks on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine, a Jewish supermarket and a policewoman.
Later on Wednesday, the United States denounced the attack and vowed to stand with the Tunisian people.
"The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms today’s deadly terrorist attack at the National Bardo Museum in Tunis," Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement.
Extending America's sympathies to the victims and their families, Kerry said Washington "stands with the Tunisian people at this difficult time and continues to support the Tunisian government’s efforts to advance a secure, prosperous, and democratic Tunisia."
He also commended the "Tunisian authorities' rapid response to today's wanton violence and their efforts to resolve the hostage situation and restore calm."
Kerry said 19 people had died and 20 were wounded, but Tunisian authorities said that Kalashnikov-wielding gunmen killed at least 17 foreign tourists before dying in a police assault.
Kerry often refers to the Tunisian fruit seller whose self-immolation in 2011 set off a series of uprisings and sparked the Arab Spring revolution.
The top U.S. diplomat made a brief, unannounced trip to Tunisia Tuesday to back the transition to democracy in the North African country in February 2014.
Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned what he called the "deplorable" attack on Tunisia's national museum.
Ban "condemns in the strongest terms today’s attack" against the Bardo museum and "conveys his deepest condolences to the families of the victims of this deplorable act," said his deputy spokesman Farhan Haq.
The secretary general also "expresses his solidarity with the Tunisian people and the Tunisian authorities," the spokesman said.
Source: Agence France Presse
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