Manhunt widening UK authorities in desperate search for bomber’s network

BRITAIN raced yesterday to track down a jihadist network suspected of orchestrating the Manchester concert attack, as a row escalated between London and Washington over leaked material from the probe.

As more children were named among the 22 victims of Monday’s massacre, the suicide bomber’s father and brother were arrested in Libya and British police arrested a seventh person in connection with the investigation.

But they were left “furious” by repeated leaks of material shared with their US counterparts, which provided an awkward backdrop for Prime Minister Theresa May’s meeting with US President Donald Trump at the NATO summit in Brussels later yesterday.

In Manchester, feelings were still raw following Salman 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 defiant as their team’s triumph in European football’s Europa League final brought some much-needed smiles to a city still in pain.

The club dedicated their trophy to those killed, while manager Jose Mourinho said they would gladly exchange it if it could bring their lives back.

According to photos from the scene of Monday’s attack at the 21,000-capacity Manchester Arena, Abedi’s device appeared fairly sophisticated.

Images obtained by The New York Times showed a detonator that Abedi was said to have carried in his left hand, shrapnel including nuts and screws, and the shredded remains of a blue backpack.

But after the bomber’s identity and details of the probe were leaked, the intelligence-sharing relationship between close allies London and Washington was left rocking.

“We are furious. This is completely unacceptable,” a government ministry source said of the images “leaked from inside the US system”.