27 May, 2017
In the interview, Ramadan said that he last spoke to Salman two days before the Manchester attack, and that Salman was about to go on a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. It wasn't immediately possible to reach a spokesman for the United-Nations backed government in Tripoli for comment. Mr Abedi had been working in Tripoli as the administrative manager for the main militia in the city.
And the man involved in a December attack in Berlin, Anis Amri, is also believed to have contacted ISIS in Libya prior to driving a truck into a Christmas market on December 19, killing 12 people and injuring 56 others.
British police investigating the lethal concert bombing in Manchester say they have made two more arrests.
The holy month of Ramadan starts this weekend. "If we gave up information that has interfered in any way with their investigation because it tipped off people in Britain - perhaps associates of this person that we identified as the bomber - then that's a real problem and they have every right to be furious".
The total number of people arrested in connection with the suicide bombing that killed 22 people has risen to 11 - but two of those have since been released without being charged. Of the 59 wounded, many were children under 16.
The UK terror threat level remains "critical", meaning another attack could be imminent and additional Army and armed police officers are patrolling major sites, including the transport network, across the UK. The changing of the guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace was cancelled so police officers could be re-deployed.
Police appeared to be widening their security operation, with the arrest of a 23-year-old from south Manchester. A German security official told The Associated Press the report was accurate.
"The perpetrator was Salman Ramadan Abedi, who was born and brought up in Britain", Ms May said, condemning his actions as "callous and cowardly". He said that his son visited Libya a month and a half ago and was planning to return to Libya to spend the holy month of Ramadan with the family.
The UK's top counter-terror cop, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley of the Metropolitan Police, also released a statement on Friday afternoon. The UK later confirmed his identity.
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the Manchester bombing, though that claim has not yet been verified by British security officials. It did not give any details about the attacker, or how the blast was carried out, leading some analysts to question the extent of the militant group's involvement.
Even though the senior Abedi denied that he was a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting group, former Libyan security official Abdel-Basit Haroun told the AP on Wednesday that the elder Abedi was a member in the 1990s of the group, which had links to al-Qaida.
Libya has become a hotspot for terrorism since the downfall and death of dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.
There were plenty of warning signs before Salman Abedi unleashed carnage at Manchester Arena.
"(Abedi) showed me a face of hate after that sermon", he said of the 2015 encounter.
