unisian President Kais Saied has hosted Jewish, Muslim and Christian leaders following a deadly mass shooting outside a local synagogue, telling them Tunisia was a country of “tolerance and coexistence”. The May 9 attack on the resort island of Djerba killed five people and sparked panic during an annual Jewish pilgrimage at the historic Ghriba synagogue, Africa’s oldest. During the meeting, Saied said a probe was underway to determine whether the shooter had any accomplices. Tunisian officials have denounced the attack as “criminal” but refrained from referring to it as a “terrorist” operation which would imply anti-Semitic motives. The Ghriba pilgrimage was previously targeted in a 2002 suicide truck bombing that killed 21 people and was claimed by Al-Qaeda.

Source: The North Africa Journal May 18, 2023 11:53 UTC