Vile act of a madman
Soldiers on street as alert level raised ‘Face-of-hate’ killer the son of Gaddafi refugees
UP TO 5000 heavily armed soldiers will be deployed on streets across the United Kingdom as the terror threat was raised to critical.
Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday raised the terror threat level from severe to critical for the first time in almost 10 years, meaning the risk of another terror strike on UK soil was imminent.
But in Downing St, officials warned the Prime Minister that the risk of another terror strike was critical.
“The police have asked for authorisation from the Secretary of State for Defence to deploy a number of military personnel in support of their armed officers,’’ Mrs May said, after a second emergency meeting of her national security committee, named Cobra.
The government activated Operation Temperer, a plan to replace some police patrols with up to 5000 heavily armed troops, and increase police presence at major sporting events and tourist landmarks.
While soldiers patrolling are commonplace in continental Europe, it is highly unusual in the UK, which until recent years prided itself on not arming its local police patrols.
But with two mass-casualty terror attacks in two months — both by British-born Muslim men — the UK is now facing the same Islamist threat that has menaced Europe for decades.
Mrs May said she did not want to “alarm’’ the public but warned: “It is a possibility we cannot ignore that there is a wider group of individuals linked to this attack.’’
With the FA Cup final scheduled for Saturday at Wembley Stadium, the public will see troops patrolling as soon as this weekend. Ms May said it was possible a wider group was linked to the bombing, prompting the deployment of troops a little more than two weeks before a June 8 national election.
The last time the UK’s terror level was at its maximum threat level of critical was in 2007 when a car was loaded with gas canisters, set on fire and driven into Glasgow airport.
The military have not been deployed anywhere in the UK since 2003.
The people of Manchester vowed to stick together. THE crazed suicide bomber behind Britain’s worst terror attack in more than a decade had secret jihadi training in Syria and had “proven” links to Islamic State.
Salman Abedi, 22, was a homegrown killer who became agitated after his parents – who had fled Libya to escape the Gaddafi regime – had returned to live in the Middle East.
Yesterday it was revealed Abedi was quickly identified after police found a bank card in his pocket at Manchester Arena.
Authorities say he led a double life and had participated in secret jihadi military training during family trips to Syria.
Fears he wasn’t acting alone were confirmed last night when police arrested another three men in south Manchester in relation to the attack.
French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb yesterday said the bomber is believed to have travelled to Syria and had “proven” links with the Islamic State terror group.
He is thought to have visited the North African country – also a haven for ISIS fighters – regularly in recent years.
Sources said there were fears Abedi may have taken advantage of the conflict to make the simple journey across the Mediterranean Sea to Syria without alerting the British authorities.
One revealed: “His potential ties to Syria now very much forms one line of inquiry.”
One male relative, who asked not to be named, said he had seen Abedi just 10 days ago looking “happy, relaxed and smiling” as he secretly plotted the attack.
The relative said: “When he was younger he liked football and was good at that stuff, he was just a normal guy, you know what I mean?
“He was actually brilliant at football to be honest, when he was a teenager though.
“He loved Manchester United and Madrid weirdly when he was younger.”
Neighbour Simon Turner revealed he had seen Abedi in recent months dressed in “traditional black robes” and said he flew a green Libyan flag from his chimney.
He said: “He used to have a green Islamic flag he would fly from his chimney.
“Sometimes he’d be dressed normally, and other times he would be in full traditional black robes.”
It has been revealed that the sick terrorist started studying business and management at Salford University in 2014, but dropped out and did not finish his degree.
The imam of Didsbury Mosque, Mohammed Saeed, said Abedi stopped going to the mosque in 2015 as he objected to anti-IS comments.
“He didn’t like what I was saying and showed me the face of hate,” Mr Saeed said.
One neighbour claimed they heard Abedi chanting Islamic prayers at his home in Elsmore Rd at Fallowfield just weeks before Monday’s bombing. Police blew open the door to Abedi’s home on Tuesday.
Officers who searched the house carried out bags of potential evidence, including a handbook titled Know Your Chemicals.
Born in Britain in 1994, the third of four children, his parents were Libyan refugees who went to the UK to escape the Gaddafi regime.
Friends and neighbours said Abedi appeared to be a normal teen who spent hours playing computer games.
But everything changed in 2011 when his father abruptly left his job and home to fight in Libya in an attempt to overthrow the Libyan leader, leaving his family to fend for themselves, according to a local imam.
Abedi and his brothers appear to have followed in their father’s footsteps by sharing stories of British jihadis fighting in Syria on social networks and even praying in the street.
The terrorist’s parents are currently in Libya and a family member said Abedi and his brother have been living in their parents’ house.
The family source said: “I went to the house 10 days ago, I saw other family members and relatives there.
“He was fine. He seemed happy, relaxed. He said, ‘Hello’, or, ‘Salam’.
“We were in the sitting room it was very normal.
“He had just normal clothes on, just normal jeans.”
The family member, who would not be named for fears of repercussions, strongly condemned the attack and said: “We can’t believe it. We can’t take it in. It is terrible.”
Abedi was well-known to the security services before he struck at the end of Ariana Grande’s concert on Monday night, detonating a homemade device packed with nails, nuts and bolts, killing 22 people, including children as young as eight, and injuring 59 more. Police have recovered CCTV of him striding into the stadium.