Victims Remain Unidentified after Terrorist Attack in Tunisia

Some of the 39 victims of a deadly attack in Sousse, Tunisia, remain unidentified three days after being gunned down on a tourist beach by a terrorist affiliated with the Islamic State. The attack was carried out by Seifeddine Rezgui, a 23-year-old college student with no history of travel to Iraq or Syria. Rezgui was killed on the scene after the attack, but Tunisian authorities are looking for accomplices who provided the assault rifle and transportation to the resort where the murders took place.

The beach murders specifically targeted European tourists — Rezgui even bypassed Tunisians on the beach — and as many as 30 of the dead are believed to be British, though authorities are waiting until the bodies have been identified before confirming. At attack at the Bardo art museum in Tunisia earlier this year also specifically targeted European tourists. The Tunisian government has responded by increasing security and moving to close 80 mosques accused of inciting violence.

Kuwait Makes Arrest in Mosque Bombing

Najd Province, an organization asserting itself as the Saudi affiliate of the Islamic State, has claimed credit for the suicide bombing that killed at least 27 people and wounded 250 at a Shia mosque in Kuwait on Friday. Kuwaiti authorities have identified the man who carried out the attack as Fahad Suleiman Abdulmohsen al-Gabbaa, a 23-year-old Saudi, and have arrested the man who drove the bomber to the mosque.

Headlines

• Egyptian public prosecutor Hisham Barakat was injured this morning when a bomb was detonated alongside his motorcade in Cairo.

• Turkish police dispersed LGBT pride parades with water cannons in Istanbul this weekend, despite the fact that pride parades were allowed in previous years.

• Though the official deadline for the international nuclear negotiations with Iran to reach a comprehensive agreement is tomorrow, talks could continue until July 9, according to a U.S. official.

• The Israeli navy has intercepted a boat that was part of a new flotilla of activists protesting Israel’s blockade of Gaza; the ship was boarded without incident and has been redirected toward the city of Ashdod.

• Yemeni President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government has rejected a new round of peace talks after negotiations in Geneva earlier this month ended without reaching terms for a ceasefire.

Arguments and Analysis

“A rare bipartisan consensus on the Iran nuclear negotiations,” (Robert Einhorn, Markaz)

“The public debate on the emerging nuclear deal with Iran has so far been highly polarized. Many critics of the Iran nuclear negotiations have spoken as if there is no such thing as a good or even adequate nuclear agreement. What is especially noteworthy about the statement issued this week by the Washington Institute’s study group is that it demonstrates that, if an eventual deal meets certain reasonable and achievable requirements, it can command substantial bipartisan support. And for anyone who favors an effective and sustainable solution to the Iran nuclear issue, that is a positive development.”

“ISIS and the Lonely Young American” (Rukmini Callimachi, New York Times)

“‘did you think of what i said aboyt islam,’ he asked, his messages sprinkled with typos. What happened next tracks closely with the recommendations in a manual written by Al Qaeda in Iraq, the group that became the Islamic State, titled ‘A Course in the Art of Recruiting.’ A copy was recovered by United States forces in Iraq in 2009. The pamphlet advises spending as much time as possible with prospective recruits, keeping in regular touch. The recruiter should ‘listen to his conversation carefully’ and ‘share his joys and sadness’ in order to draw closer.”

-J. Dana Stuster

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