Berlin - Tunisian authorities have arrested a man linked to the explosion of a fuel tanker outside a synagogue there in which 16 people died, including 11 German tourists, German Interior Minister Otto Schily announced late on Monday.
Upon his return from a two-day visit to Tunisia to check on the inquiry into the blast, Schily told German television channel ZDF: "There has been an arrest, but I think it is in the interests of the inquiry not to reveal any details".
He added that inquiries were also continuing in other countries, including Canada, France and Pakistan.
The alleged perpetrator of the deadly blast on the Tunisian island of Djerba on April 11, Nizar Ben Mohamed Nasr Nawar, died in the attack which also killed 11 German tourists, a French tourist, a French-Tunisian tour guide and two maintenance workers.
"A second person was involved in the blast," said Schily.
The Tunisian authorities initially said the blast was an accident, while German officials insisted evidence pointed to a deliberate attack.
But Tunis last week acknowledged the explosion may have been intentional and said the driver of the truck, a Tunisian who lived in France, was considered a suspect.
On Sunday Schily visited the Ghriba synagogue - one of Judaism's holiest sites - and laid a wreath there.
The Tunisian authorities, in a statement on Monday, announced that Nawar had acted "in complicity with one of his close relatives living in Tunisia".
Nawar's name, identified by Tunisia for the first time, was the same as one mentioned when a group close to the al-Qaeda terrorist network claimed responsibility for the deadly attack. - Sapa-AFP