27 May, 2017
Greater Manchester Police say two men were arrested overnight in Manchester and in the Withington area in the south of the city. University dropout Abedi, 22, grew up in a Libyan family that reportedly fled to Manchester to escape the now-fallen regime of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Hostey, also known as Abu Qaqa al-Britani, boasted of recruiting jihadis from Britain to Syria to fight for the extremists prior to his death.
Monday's explosion at the Grande concert sparked a stampede of young concertgoers, some still wearing the American singer's trademark kitten ears and holding pink balloons.
He was aged 24 when he died.
In Tripoli, a government spokesman confirmed an earlier eyewitness report that Abedi's father had been arrested by the Libyan counter-terrorism forces.
"He sounded normal. There was nothing worrying at all until two days ago (when) I heard the news that they suspect he was the bomber", Abedi, a father of six, said. Several British newspapers say UK Prime Minister Theresa May will confront US President Donald Trump about the leaks at the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit on Thursday.
His 22 victims included an eight-year-old girl, several teenage girls, a 28-year-old man and a Polish couple who had come to collect their daughters.
He said: "People across Greater Manchester have seen an increased police presence throughout the day and this will continue".
Rudd said Britain's increased official threat level will remain at "critical" as the investigation proceeds and won't be lowered until security services are convinced there is no active plot in place.
Britain's official terror threat level was raised to "critical", the highest level, late on Tuesday, meaning an attack was expected imminently.
Greater Manchester Police declined to comment on the BBC report but prime minister Theresa May said she would raise the issue in a one-to-one meeting with U.S. president onaldTrump at the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit in Brussels on Thursday.
The singer said she will think of the victims "with everything I do for the rest of my life", adding: "They will be on my mind and in my heart everyday". Four people have been arrested, including the bomber's 23-year-old brother.
"We don't believe in killing innocents".
Salman Abedi's father Ramadan Abedi has also been arrested. A Met statement said: "As a highly visible deterrent and disruptive tactic, officers will be making more use of stop and search, vehicle checkpoints and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology".
She also complained about USA officials leaking sensitive information about Abedi to the press.
Ramadan Abedi also had said he worked as the administrative manager of the Central Security force in Tripoli.
He told BBC's Newsnight: "I wasn't there, but I gathered from one of the people there, who was praying there, that he approached the imam and gave him a really, really, really killer look". Islamic State on Wednesday claimed responsibility behind the attack.
