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Tunisia welcomes relaxing of Belgian travel curbs

By AFP
Tunisia Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui R greets his Belgian counterpart, Didier Reynders, during an official visit in the capital Tunis on March 1, 2017.  By FETHI BELAID AFP
MAR 1, 2017 LISTEN
Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui (R) greets his Belgian counterpart, Didier Reynders, during an official visit in the capital Tunis on March 1, 2017. By FETHI BELAID (AFP)

Tunis (AFP) - Tunisia welcomed Wednesday a move by Belgium to partially lift travel restrictions on its nationals put in place following a deadly attack on a Tunisian beach resort in 2015.

"I welcome... Belgium's decision to lift part of the restrictions on travel to Tunisia," Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui told reporters after meeting with his Belgian counterpart Didier Reynders in Tunis.

"It think this is an important decision as it recognises Tunisian efforts concerning security."

Reynders said the decision was not just a "gesture" but that it reflected "changes on the security front" in Tunisia.

"The changes we have made to our travel advice clearly comes from progress made on the ground," he added.

Belgium placed restrictions on travel to Tunisia following a gun and grenade attack in June 2015 at the Tunisian beach resort of Sousse that killed 38 foreign holidaymakers.

Last month, Brussels relaxed curbs on nationals travelling to Tunis and the coastal region in the north but advised against visits near the border with Algeria and to southern areas.

A state of emergency has been in force in Tunisia since a suicide attacker killed 12 presidential security guards in a bus bombing in the capital in November 2015.

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