The 21-year-old Tunisian suspected of killing three people at the Notre-Dame basilica in Nice reached France via the Italian island of Lampedusa only a few weeks ago, sources close to the inquiry said. The revelation that the suspect, named Brahim Aouissaoui, landed in late September on the tiny island south of Sicily sparked a major political row in Italy. Italian authorities reportedly placed him in quarantine for two weeks on board a ship, the Rhapsody. He was interviewed by immigration officials on October 8, Italian media reported last night. But they released him, giving him an expulsion order and telling him to leave Italy. Instead, he traveled to the southern city of Bari, in the region of Puglia, and from there made his way to France in early October. It was reported that the French authorities identified him from a document he had been given by the Italian Red Cross. Tunisia on Thursday announced it had opened an investigation into the alleged attacker. Matteo Salvini, the head of the League party, accused the government of being too lax on immigration controls and called for the resignation of the interior minister, Luciana Lamorgese.
