US leaks anger Manchester terrorist investigators
BRITAIN raced yesterday to track down a jihadist network suspected of orchestrating the Manchester concert attack, while a row escalated between London and Washington over leaked material from the UK’s investigation.
As more children were named among the 22 victims of the massacre, the suicide bomber’s father and brother were arrested in Libya and police in Britain made more arrests, taking the total in custody to eight.
A woman arrested on Tues- day was released yesterday.
UK authorities were furious with repeated leaks of material shared with their US counter- parts, which provides an awkward backdrop for Prime Minister Theresa May’s meeting with US President Donald Trump at the NATO summit in Brussels today.
Feelings were still raw in Manchester after Abedi’s attack on a concert by US pop star Ariana Grande, especially so as the bomber was born in the city.
But Manchester United fans stood together in defiant mood as their team’s triumph in European football’s Europa League final brought some much-needed smiles to a city still in pain.
According to photographs from the scene of Monday’s attack at the 21,000-capacity Manchester Arena, Abedi’s device appeared to be fairly sophisticated.
Images showed a detonator that bomber Salman Abedi was said to have carried in his left hand, shrapnel including nuts and screws, and the shredded remains of a blue backpack.
University dropout Abedi, 22, grew up in a Libyan family that reportedly fled to Manchester to escape the fallen regime of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. His father Ramadan and younger brother Hashem were detained in Libya, authorities there said.
British officials said Abedi had been on their radar before the massacre.
“It’s very clear that this is a network that we are investigating,” Manchester police chief Ian Hopkins said.
Police said they believed they knew the identities of all 22 victims.