Tunisia said on Thursday it plans to reopen a consulate in Syria and offered to invite the Syrian ambassador back to Tunisia in part to help track an estimated 3,000 Tunisian militants fighting in Iraq and Syria. Last month, two Tunisians who trained with militants in neighboring Libya, stormed the Tunis Bardo museum and shot 21 foreign tourists, one of Tunisia's worst such attacks. "We will not have an ambassador there, but Tunisia will open a consulate or put in place a charge d'affaires, and a Syria ambassador is welcome to Tunisia, if Syria wishes so," Foreign Minister Taieb Bakouch told reporters. He gave no dates. The minister said a consular presence in Syria would help Tunisia glean information on Tunisians fighting alongside Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria and who officials fear will return to carry out attacks at home. Tunisia would also reestablish diplomatic relations with neighboring Libya, Bakouch said.

Tunisia furthered its changing stance through accusing Turkey of facilitating the transit of fighters bound for neighboring Syria and Iraq, yet, did not mention the fact that the highest number of foreign fighters come from Tunisia, according to several reports, released by different organizations. "More than 3,000 Tunisians have also left to join militants fighting in Syria and Iraq, and the government is concerned about the prospect of returning fighters carrying out attacks on their home soil," Reuters previously reported. Foreign Minister Taieb Baccouche said he was a 'passage point' for fighters who go to Syria or for those who travel to Libya and then infiltrate across the porous border into Tunisia. "We have asked our ambassador in Turkey to draw the attention of the Turkish authorities to the fact that we do not want a Muslim nation such as Turkey to help directly or indirectly terrorism in Libya by facilitating the movements of terrorists," Baccouche said. However, he did not talk about if Tunisia makes any effort to prevent its own citizens from flowing to foreign countries to fight.