Moroccan arrested in Italy to be investigated for alleged Tunis attack links

The movements of the Moroccan suspected of having planned the Tunis terror attack are yet unclear, and his presence in Italy has to be checked, Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said Thursday.

Abdelmajid Touil, 22, was arrested by Italy's anti-terrorism police on Tuesday evening in the northern town of Gaggiano, near Milan.

Tunisian authorities had issued an international warrant against him for allegedly having planned and taken indirect part in the attack on the Bardo Museum on March 18, in which 24 people died.

"The movements of Touil after his arrival in Italy must be verified, since no elements of his presence in the country between Feb. 17 and May 19 have yet officially emerged," Alfano told parliament in a hearing.

The young Moroccan arrived in Italy on a migrant boat on Feb. 17, after being rescued by Italy's navy along with 641 other migrants coming from Libya, the minister confirmed.

In the identification centre in Sicily "he provided a false identity," Alfano said.

Touil had no previous criminal record, and was not known as a possible terrorism suspect by Tunisia or Italy when entering the country.

He went through ordinary identification procedures: his fingerprints were taken and he was issued an expulsion order as an illegal migrant, according to the minister.

After that, he was reported to have been living with his mother and two older brothers, who are legal residents in Gaggiano.

He would also have attended an Italian language class at a local school, according to neighbors and teachers cited by local media on Thursday.

Alfano pointed out Touil's movements in the period between his registered entry in Italy and the attack at Bardo in mid-March will have to be checked thoroughly, in order to officially confirm or deny his presence in the country at the moment of the attack.

The investigation resulting in the suspect's arrest was launched after the mother of Abdelmajid Touil reported the loss of her son's passport in April to the Italian authorities.

After his arrest on Tuesday, anti-terrorism police seized papers, a mobile phone, and USB flash drives from his family's house. A DNA test on the suspect has been ordered.

Touil is being held in jail pending an extradition request from Tunisia. A first hearing in a Milan court is scheduled for Friday.

The attack on the Bardo National Museum was carried out by a group of masked militants armed with automatic weapons.

Altogether 24 people died in the assault: two of the gunmen, a Tunisian policeman, and foreign tourists from several countries. Endit