Irish Told To Leave Tunisia As Britons Flee

Ireland has followed the UK in advising holidaymakers to leave Tunisia in the wake of the beach terror attack.

Thousands of UK holidaymakers and staff are being evacuated from the country after the Government urged them to leave immediately because of fears of another terror attack.

The Foreign Office's warning against all but essential travel follows intelligence that an attack is "highly likely" after last month's beach shootings, which killed 38 tourists, including 30 Britons and three Irish nationals.

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Extra flights are being put on to bring tourists home and two holiday companies, Thomson and First Choice, are returning their staff to the UK.

An estimated 3,000 Britons are currently on holiday in Tunisia and about 300 others are travelling independently.

Holidaymakers should contact their tour operators, while independent travellers should make their own arrangements to leave as commercial airlines are operating, said the Foreign Office.

They should contact the British embassy in Tunis if they need consular assistance.

Ireland's Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan said "relatively few" Irish tourists are believed to still be in Tunisia, and added those still in the country will be told about the updated travel advice.

He said: "We are now encouraging any Irish visitors to Tunisia to review whether their presence in Tunisia is essential and, where it is not, we are advising them to leave by commercial means."

Denmark has also urged its citizens in Tunisia to leave the country.

But the French foreign ministry has said it is not planning to follow Britain and Ireland's lead in urging tourists to leave.

A German government delegation will travel to the country in the next few days to assess the security situation.

Thomas Cook has said it is cancelling all future bookings to the country until 31 October because of the beach attack.

And it is bringing all its customers in the country back to the UK as soon as possible using "third party carriers and on our 10 scheduled flights over the weekend".

Thomas Cook "strongly advises" people to return on these flights.

Thomson and First Choice - the companies all the Britons killed in the Sousse massacre were travelling with - have cancelled all of their outbound flights to Tunisia for the summer season, which is up to 31 October.

The two firms no longer have any British tourists in the country but are bringing back their staff in the next 24 hours.

Thomson and First Choice said: "Customers due to travel to Tunisia up to and including 31 October will be given the opportunity to amend their holiday free of charge to any of our destinations currently on sale, or receive a full refund."

The Association of British Travel Agents said: "Holidaymakers should be aware that travelling out to Tunisia at this time is likely to invalidate travel insurance policies.

"Most insurance policies will still provide cover for travellers in a country at the time of Foreign Office advice change.

"Those with holidays booked within the next 48 hours to Tunisia are advised to contact their travel company to discuss available options.

"If you have booked a package you will be entitled to a refund or alternative holiday."

The Foreign Office said British authorities have been working closely with their Tunisian counterparts over the attack and although extra security measures have been put in place "the intelligence and threat picture has developed considerably".

And it deemed the measures were not adequate enough to protect British tourists.

Tunisia's ambassador in London said on Thursday Britain was playing into the hands of the terrorists by telling tourists to return home.

"This is what the terrorists want," Nabil Ammar, Tunisian ambassador to the UK, told BBC Two's Newsnight.

"By damaging the tourism, by having foreigners leaving the country, they damage the whole sector and put so many people out of work and on the streets."

Tunisia's Prime Minister Habib Essid has said he will call David Cameron about the situation.

"Britain is free to take whatever decision it likes, it's a sovereign country, but we too are a sovereign country and we have a position to take," he told parliament, warning that Britain's decision would "have repercussions".

Mr Cameron's official spokesperson stressed the Foreign Office's decision was not one that was made lightly, and the first priority was making sure British nationals are safe.

Security forces in the country remain on high alert after the attacks, and on Friday they killed five Islamist militants in clashes in the mountains near the central town of Gafsa.