Silent Tribute To Tunisia Victims

Britain will remember the victims of the Tunisia terror attack with a minute's silence today.

The silence will be observed at noon - a week after the outrage - and flags will be flown at half-mast over Whitehall departments and Buckingham Palace.

The bodies of 17 of the 30 British victims killed in the beach massacre have been returned to the UK and eight more will be flown into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire today, the Foreign Office said, with the final five returning tomorrow.

The final two Britons to be identified have been confirmed as Raymond and Angela Fisher, from Leicester, believed to be aged 75 and 69.

The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh will join people across the country as they pause for the silence at noon to remember those killed in the massacre.

She will mark the silence during a visit to the University of Strathclyde's Technology and Innovation Centre in Glasgow, while Prime Minister David Cameron will also join the silence in his Oxfordshire constituency.

Flags across Whitehall and at other public buildings will fly at half mast, while play at Wimbledon is being delayed to allow players, fans and tournament staff to observe the silence.

The Muslim Council of Britain is also urging British Muslims to make their voices heard to pray for peace, and speak out against terrorism, and has called on mosques and imams to deliver a sermon of peace at Friday prayers, to remind people that these killers do not respect the sanctity of life as laid down in Islam''.

The British victims were among 38 holidaymakers who were killed by Seifeddine Rezgui when he opened fire in the resort of Sousse.

Three Irish nationals, two Germans, one Belgian, one Portuguese and one Russian were among the dead.

The first inquests into the deaths of the Britons were opened at West London Coroner's Court today.

Coroner Chinyere Inyama is expected to open and adjourn the hearings in which a headline cause of death will be confirmed and the bodies will be released to families.

Recent days have seen military personnel complete the solemn task of receiving some of the victims on British soil in a ceremony at RAF Brize Norton.

Members of the RAF Regiment's Queen's Colour Squadron unloaded the coffins from the RAF C-17 transport plane used to bring them back from Tunisia into the waiting hearses.

They were watched by relatives of the dead who were present at the air base.

Holiday operators Thomson and First Choice have confirmed that all 30 British victims were their customers.

It is believed Rezgui - who was shot dead by police - had accomplices who helped him to carry out the atrocity and the Tunisian government said it had made a number of arrests.

Eight people - seven men and one woman - were in custody, suspected of having direct links to the massacre, but four others had been released, government minister Kamel Jendoubi said.

He said the investigation has allowed us to discover the network behind the operation in Sousse''.

According to Tunisian officials, the gunman trained at a Libyan jihadist camp at the same time as the two gunmen who attacked the Bardo museum in Tunis in March, killing 22 people.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon vowed that those responsible for the massacre would be tracked down''.

The Metropolitan Police said 76 family liaison officers across the country were supporting the families of those killed and the survivors while hundreds of counter terrorism officers were helping the international response to the attack.

Specialist advisers have also been deployed to Tunisia by the National Policing Counter Terrorism Headquarters to assist the Foreign Office and Tunisian authorities in reviewing security at other tourist resorts and attractions.

Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, the national policing lead for counter terrorism, said: With the threat level to the UK from international terrorism remaining at severe, the UK police service is continually reviewing security to help ensure people and places are as safe as possible.''

He appealed for anyone who was in Sousse and witnessed the attack to contact the confidential anti-terrorist hotline on 0800 789 321.

He also said that dedicated email addresses for people to send any images and information that may assist'' in the investigation has also been set up.

People can go online - to either www.ukpoliceimageappeal.com or www.ukpoliceimageappeal.co.uk and relevant information to tunisiaenquiry@met.police.uk - to send their images.