United Kingdom police arrest fifth person in connection with Manchester attack

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26 May, 2017

His name first surfaced in U.S. media reports Tuesday, based on briefings given to United States officials by their counterparts in London.

The president said he would seek an official review to stop leaks that he said posed a serious security threat.

He also confirmed that a serving officer had been killed.

Meanwhile, Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said the publication of leaked intelligence by the New York Times had " caused much distress for families that are already suffering terribly with their loss".

Media reports cited a family friend saying that Salman Abedi had travelled to Libya with his father in 2011 to join the Tripoli Brigade militia as it battled the regime of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. That was a change from previous thinking that a bomb-maker might be at large.

Mrs May raised the security threat level to the highest possible rating of critical, meaning another atrocity is expected imminently, saying a "wider group of individuals" could have been involved in the blast.

Counter-terror police investigating the Manchester Arena bombing have carried out fresh raids, searching addresses in Manchester and Merseyside.

Abedi's father has denied that his son was part of any such terror network.

Investigators were also assessing whether Salman Abedi, the suspected bomber in the attack Monday on a pop concert in Manchester, may have been connected to known militants in the northern English city. The victims ranged from an eight-year-old schoolgirl to parents who had come to pick up their children. Rouse said many of those hospitalized had serious wounds that would require "very long term care and support in terms of their recovery".

The British government has expressed its anger at the release in U.S. media of details from the investigation into Monday's concert attack, including photographs of parts of the bomb. The disclosure of potential evidence "undermines our investigations and the confidence of victims, witnesses and their families".

May said Thursday she would raise leaks with Trump when the pair meet at a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit in Brussels, Belgium.

"Wherever he got that, he didn't get it from this mosque", he said, adding that the imam regularly preached against radicalization.

The militia, which is aligned with the Libyan government, said that the younger Abedi was allegedly planning a terror attack in Libya when arrested. British law enforcement officials say they fear the leaks could impede their investigation.

On March 22, five people were killed and more than 50 injured when a man ploughed into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge in central London, before crashing into the fence surrounding parliament.

Here is what we know so far about Monday's attack, the deadliest in Britain since 2005.

The dispute could have wider implications for intelligence sharing between the United States and its closest allies. May said at the time Britain would continue to share information with Washington.

A total of 64 people are being treated in hospital, including 20 in critical care, medical officials said. Crowds gathered at well-known sites including London's Parliament and Trafalgar Squares and Manchester's Albert Square.

A fifth man who was carrying a suspect package was then detained in Wigan, west of the city. One of those arrested includes Abedi's brother Ismail. These arrests are "significant", he said, with searches having "revealed items that we believe are very important to the investigation".

"Who's leaking it? Where's it coming from?"

The Financial Times reported that such images are available across a restricted-access encrypted special worldwide database used by government ordnance and explosives experts in about 20 countries allied with Britain. Customs and Border Protection has access to a broad array of air travel information through the USA government's National Targeting Center.

The paper also published a map showing the location of the victims of the bombing, positioned in a circle around the site of the explosion in the arena foyer, as well as what is thought to be Abedi's torso some distance away.


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