Manchester bombing case : United Kingdom police make 2 more arrests

Ramadan Abedi the father of Salman Abedi the bomber who killed 22 concert-goers in an attack in Manchester gestures as he speaks to Reuters in Tripoli Libya
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26 May, 2017

Manchester police hope to resume intelligence sharing soon, but are furious with a story in the New York Times that included photos of the crime scene, the BBC reported, without saying where it got the information.

Greater Manchester metro mayor Andy Burnham said that a decision had been taken early in the investigation to be cautious about putting information into the public domain.

She is expected to raise the issue of intelligence leaks with U.S. President Donald Trump, according to the Guardian newspaper, amid speculation that key allies could become reluctant to share vital security information with the world's superpower.

British ministers and security chiefs have been dismayed by leaks in the USA media about intelligence on a suicide bombing in Manchester on Monday. Abedi's father is alleged to be a former member of an Al-Qaeda-backed Libyan Islamic Fighter Group.

People look over floral tributes in St. Ann's Square for the people who lost their lives during the Manchester terror attack in central Manchester, Britain, 24 May 2017.

The arrests include the attacker's older brother, Ismail Abedi.

There were also reports Abedi's parents were so anxious about him being radicalised in Manchester that they got him to join them in Libya and confiscated his passport.

The senior Abedi denied that his son Salman had links to militants, telling the AP in an interview "we don't believe in killing innocents" before being taken into custody in Libya, along with another son, Hashim. "This damage is even greater when it involves unauthorised disclosure of potential evidence in the middle of a major counter-terrorism investigation". Seven arrests have so far been made in the United Kingdom in connection with the attack.

Officials said all of the bombing victims have been identified, but names were being withheld until autopsies were completed.

In response to the heightened threat, the Government has activated Operation Temperer, providing up to 3,800 troops to support the police in security operations.

Relations between the USA and United Kingdom security services, normally extremely close, have been put under strain by the scale of the leaks from U.S. officials to the American media.

Stoltenberg also told reporters that leaders would agree at Thursday's meeting to enhance Nato's contribution in the fight against terrorism with the organisation formerly joining the coalition fighting Isis to improve coordination between the states involved.

The 22-year-old Abedi traveled to Germany at least twice, Focus reported, citing anonymous German intelligence officials.

The spokesman added that Libyan authorities were aware of Abedi going to the capital of Tripoli on April 18 and believed he stayed for two or three weeks.

The meeting between Mrs May and Mr Trump, at a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit in Brussels, will take place as British police continue to investigate an alleged "network" linked to Abedi.

"We were not quite sure about this, but when we arrested and we asked him, he told us, "I have ideology with my brother".


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