German Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses the media in Berlin, Germany, December 20, 2016, one day after a truck ploughed into a crowded Christmas market in the German capital. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday she had told Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi during a phone conversation that her government wanted to speed up deportation of failed asylum seekers and increase the number of those expelled.

Speaking after Italian police shot dead a rejected Tunisian asylum seeker linked to the truck attack at a Christmas market in Berlin, Merkel said the incident raised many questions and her government would take measures to improve security.

"We have also made progress this year on the very important issue of deporting Tunisian citizens who have no right to stay in Germany," Merkel said. "I told the Tunisian president that we have to significantly speed up the deportation process and increase the number of people sent back."

(Reporting by Victoria Bryan and Joseph Nasr)