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Police and the security service are focusing upon the Libyan connections of the Manchester suicide bomber as they attempt to locate others involved in the attack that killed 22 concert-goers and injured more than 60 others.
Salman Abedi travelled to see his mother, father, younger brother and sister in Libya last week but Whitehall sources said they suspected there were also what they termed “nefarious purposes” behind his visit to Tripoli.
Yesterday his father, Ramadan, and younger brother, Hashem, 20 , were reported to have been arrested by a militia in Tripoli on suspicion of having links with Islamic State.
British police were also investigating Abedi’s connections in Manchester including among the city’s Libyan community, with three more people arrested yesterday.
Greater Manchester police’s chief constable, Ian Hopkins, said the public should be aware that “this is a network that we are investigating” while the home secretary, Amber Rudd, said that the relatively sophisticated nature of the attack suggested he may have had support. Pictures of the remnants of the bomb that emerged on Wednesday suggested that whoever constructed it was an expert.
“It seems likely, possible, that he wasn’t doing this on his own,” Rudd said.
Among the greatest concerns of the police and the security service are that Abedi may not have constructed the bomb that he detonated at the Manchester Arena on Monday night, meaning a bomb-maker remains at large.
The security service was aware of Abedi, although he had appeared to be a peripheral figure who was not considered to pose a high risk. Abedi, 22, was born in Manchester to Ramadan Abedi, who is known among the city’s Libyan community as Abu Ismail, and his wife, Samia Tabbal. The couple had fled Libya in the early 1990s to escape arrest by the Gaddafi regime.
The couple returned to live in Tripoli after the 2011 revolution, in which Abu Ismail fought, and now live there with Abedi’s younger sister, Jomana.
For some time, Abedi had been living alone in a semi-detached house in the Fallowfield area of south Manchester. Neighbours there described him as withdrawn, but say he occasionally became involved in arguments about the parking of cars. Police searched the property on Tuesday after blowing off the front door in a controlled explosion.
Abedi’s older brother Ismail, 23, is still being questioned after being arrested in Manchester on Tuesday. Other members of the family are thought to be among those arrested.
A few hours before his reported arrest, Abedi’s father Ramadan Abedi spoke briefly with reporters. He said he had last seen his son when he visited Tripoli last week, and had told his mother he intended to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca during Ramadan, which starts this weekend.
“I was really shocked when I saw the news, I still don’t believe it,” he said. “My son was as religious as any child who opens his eyes in a religious family. As we were discussing news of similar attacks earlier, he was always against those attacks, saying there’s no religious justification for them. I don’t understand how he’d have become involved in an attack that led to the killing of children.”
Shortly afterwards eyewitnesses told Bloomberg News that they had seen Ramadan Abedi being taken from his home by members of a Rada, a self-appointed Tripoli militia. A militia spokesman said that Hashem Abedi had been detained on suspicion of having links with Islamic State.
The French interior minister said Abedi may have travelled to Syria as well as Libya. Quoting information provided by the UK, Gérard Collomb said: “We only know what British investigators have told us – that someone of British nationality, of Libyan origin, suddenly, after a trip to Libya and then probably to Syria, becomes radicalised and decides to carry out this attack.” Collomb also told French TV that Abedi had proven links with Islamic State.
In the UK, however, police played down the suggestion that Abedi was thought to have travelled to Syria.
Abedi had been a pupil at Burnage Media Arts college, now Burnage academy, an all boys school in a deprived part of south Manchester. In a statement, the school confirmed Abedi was a former pupil. Headteacher Ian Fenn said: “We are a Manchester school. We feel the pain that Manchester feels. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our fellow Mancunians against terrorism in all its forms. Our deepest condolences go to all who have been affected by this outrage.”
Abedi studied business and management at Salford University two or three years ago, but dropped out of the course and did not complete his degree. The Guardian understands he was receiving student loan payments as recently as last month.
It is understood Abedi was not known to have participated in any clubs or societies during his time in higher education – and never met the resident imam. Dr Sam Grogan, the university’s pro-vice chancellor for student experience, said: “All at the University of Salford are shocked and saddened by the events of last night. Our thoughts are with all those involved, their families and their friends.”
He prayed regularly at Didsbury mosque in south Manchester, where his father used to call the adhan.
Although MI5 did not consider Abedi to pose a high risk, a number of people have said that they warned the authorities about him.
An unnamed Muslim community worker told the BBC that two people who knew the attacker at college tipped off police after he made statements “supporting terrorism” and expressing the view that “being a suicide bomber was OK”. The calls are thought to have been made five years ago after Abedi left school, the community worker added.
In the United States, NBC News quoted US officials as saying members of the bomber’s own family had warned security services that they believed him to be dangerous.
Mohammed Saeed, a senior figure at Didsbury mosque and Islamic centre, told the Guardian that he had warned police that he believed a close associate of Abedi posed a danger to the public, but officers did not take the matter seriously. Saeed said he had faced threats on social media but officers said they viewed the comments as a matter of free speech.
Greater Manchester police said they had no comment to make about the allegation.
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