Astonishing claim of Tunisia ISIS hotel killer’s dad one year on from massacre
HAKIM Rezgui claims his son Seifeddine, who killed 38 people by opening fire at a beach, was a victim of radicalisation
THE dad of the ISIS terrorist who murdered 38 people on a Tunisia beach one year ago has said his son was a "victim".
Hakim Rezgui has spoken out on the first anniversary of the horror massacre, in which 30 Brits died, to say son Seifeddine "was a victim".
Thirty-eight people died when lone wolf gunman Rezgui stormed a beach in Sousse, Tunisia and opened fire at sunbathers.
But the killer's dad has said his son was a "victim" of radicalisation, which caused him to carry out the horror massacre at the Imperial Marhaba Hotel last June.
He told the : "Seifeddine was a victim. I know he was. My wife feels the same way. She is heartbroken.
"Many people in the village are shocked. Many of them think he's guilty, but I think he is a victim."
Three Brits from one family were murdered as Rezgui sprayed bullets at holidaymakers sunning themselves on the Tunisian beach.
Owen Richards, 16, survived the murder spree, but his brother Joel, 19, uncle Adrian Evans, 44, and grandad Patrick, 78, were all killed.
Rezgui was shot dead by police as they stormed the beach in a bid to save victims a year ago today.
The terrorist is buried in a Muslim cemetery in his home-town Gaafour.
His body was kept in a morgue at a Tunis hospital and only buried under tight security three months after the attack.
He was denied the Muslim rite of passage and only his family were allowed to attend the burial.
Locals slammed the decision to bury him in the local cemetery, with one saying: "He brought shame on this town. He dirtied us."
Others fear their own children could be at risk of radicalisation after learning Rezgui "switched" at university.
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A police spokesman said: "When he was young, Seifeddine was very honest. People are still in shock.
"When he was at college he learned to dance, he was happy and full of life. But he went to university and in just 12 months he was radicalised.
"He completely switched."
They added "all parents" in Gaafour are worried their children could be at risk of a similar fate - and says all keep a close eye on their children.
The Sousse attack was the largest on Brits since the July 7 bombings in 2005, which killed 52 people in London.
Rezgui was trained at the same Libya terror camp as Brit butcher Jihadi John, who was killed in air strikes in Syria.
A fund was set up in the UK after the attack - but shockingly a group of beach workers who formed a human shield to protect tourists as the killer sprayed bullets have received none of the money donated.
Money was given to hotel workers from the Imperial Marhaba and neighbouring Riu Bellevue, who were affiliated with tour operator TUI.
As the beach vendors were not officially affiliated with TUI, they received nothing.
Jihed Hassen, 34, who has driven tourists boats at the Marhaba for 34 years and was one of the vendors who saved lives, told the : "We are suffering. There are zero clients. Where are the British?
"We did our best. When the English don't come here, they are letting the terrorists win."
Sousse's once booming tourist industry has been badly affected by the attack, with a 90 per cent decrease in British and Irish travel.
The once-busy beach is now deserted and the vendors who saved the lives of Brits during the attack have begged them to return.
Hassen added security is "everywhere" in Tunisia, suggesting the country is safe and said: "We want the British people to come back."
Sahbi Mougo, 58, who has run a watersports business in Sousse since 1996 led Brit tourists to safety, while others shouted "kill us, kill us".
His business is now failing as the hotel is set to close next year.
He said: "There are still police all over the beach. It is too much. Tunisians are not terrorists."
The brave beach workers are thought to have saved 70 mostly British lives by urging the killer to shoot them instead.
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