Moroccan held in Italy over Tunis museum attack says is innocent

Rome (AFP) - A young Moroccan man arrested in Italy on Tuesday for allegedly helping in the attack on the Bardo museum in Tunis in March insisted Friday he was innocent and opposed his extradition to Tunisia, his lawyer said.

Abdelmajid Touil, 22, claimed his arrest was "a mistake", Silvia Fiorentini said after an preliminary extradition hearing.

"His version is coherent, he never moved from Italy. He has nothing to do (with the attack) and he doesn't understand how this mistake could be made," Fiorentini told Italian media.

The Tunisian interior ministry confirmed Friday that it had requested Touil's extradition.

According to the ministry, Touil is suspected of having "participated indirectly" in the attack on the Bardo National Museum in Tunis by two armed Tunisians, in which 21 tourists and one policeman were killed.

Tunisian authorities suspect Touil of having given "logistical support" to the attackers.

The prosecutor in Milan said Thursday that Touil was in Italy the week of the attacks, adding that his presence was proven by attendance sheets for courses he was taking, and eyewitness accounts.

Italian police have said Touil was in Italy before the attack. They said he entered illegally in February as part of a boatload of migrants.

Touil's mother told Italian media her son was innocent.

"My son is not associated with jihad, or with armed attacks, and when he heard about the attack in Tunisia, he was with me," she said.

Touil, another Moroccan and an Algerian are the subject of arrest warrants issued by Tunisia following the museum attacks.

At least 23 people were arrested in Tunisia as part of an investigation into the attack claimed by the Islamic State group and led by Lokmane Abou Sakhr, an Algerian jihadist who was killed by Tunisian forces at the end of March.