Italy to deport Tunisia museum attack suspect

Rome, Oct 29 (IANS/AKI) A Moroccan national accused by Tunisian authorities of supplying weapons in the Bardo Museum massacre earlier this year will be deported from Italy, police said.

"Abdel Majid Touil is in Italy without a regular permit of stay so an expulsion order has been issued against him," said a police statement.

"He will be held in a centre for identification and expulsion (CIE) in Turin until he is expelled," the statement added

Earlier on Wednesday, a Milan court rejected a request from Tunisia to extradite the 22-year-old Touil because he could be executed there if he is convicted of involvement in the Bardo attack.

Italy refuses to extradite suspects to any country if there is a risk they could be put to death for the crime.

The court also ordered Touil's release from Milan's Opera Jail and prosecutors requested the investigation against him be shelved due to a lack of evidence.

He was arrested near Milan May 19 on an international warrant issued by Tunisia.

Touil arrived at the Sicilian port of Porto Empedocle on February 17 on a migrant boat and has never left the country since, according to Touil and his family, who deny his involvement in the Bardo attack.

Twenty-one foreign tourists, a policemen, and two out of three gunmen were killed during the attack on March 18 on the Bardo museum in capital Tunis. Islamic State claimed responsibilty.

--IANS/AKI

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