Big News Network.com Sunday 29th March, 2015
TUNIS, Tunisia - Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Tunis Sunday for an anti-terrorism march to the Bardo National Museum where 21 tourists and a Tunisian were gunned down last week.
Chanting "Tunisia is free! Terrorism out!", the crowd marched to the museum, where French President Francois Hollande and other world leaders attended a ceremony.
Hours before the march, Tunisian security officials said that they had killed the man believed to have led the attack.
Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi paid tribute to his citizens' defiance in a speech at the museum.
"The Tunisian people proved today that they do not bow to terrorism, and that as one man and one woman, they defend the nation. When Tunisia is targeted, the whole nation stands as one," he said to enthusiastic applause.
The Bardo National Museum was stormed by gunmen on 18 March and British, Japanese, French, Italian and Colombian tourists were among the dead, most of them had been visiting the country aboard MSC Cruises and Costa Cruises ships.
President Hollande on Sunday announced that Huguette Dupeu, a Frenchwoman injured in the attack, had also died from her injuries.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and other foreign dignitaries attended a ceremony at the museum alongside the French leader and laid a stone tablet dedicated to the memory of the attack victims.
"We had four French citizens killed there, victims of terrorism, so it was necessary to participate in this march," said President Hollande. "Today it's about Tunisia, and the values it represents in the Arab world and beyond."
Demonstrators waved Tunisian flags and held up slogans of "Not Afraid" and "We Are Bardo", surrounded by a heavy security presence. Activists speaking to international media said the point of the march was to show that Tunisia was a democratic moderate country that rejected extremist ideologies.
Tunisians held a landmark election in December that ushered in a new, largely secular government in the wake of the Arab Spring, which began in Tunisia. The country had seemed poised to make a dramatic rebound this year, especially in terms of its tourism industry, until the March terror attack.
Tunisian authorities say they have killed the alleged leader of the attack, Lokman Abu Sakhra. He was one of nine armed militants killed in a raid on Saturday, according to security officials.
It is alleged that the militants were members of the Okba Ibn Nafaa Brigade, a jihadist group that has previously carried out deadly attacks against security forces in the country.
Authorities claim to have arrested dozens of people in the last week that they suspected of links to the museum attack.
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