Cops seek clues in concert bomber’s suitcase

LONDON (AP): POLICE IN Manchester, England issued a picture of the arena suicide bomber holding a blue suitcase and asked anyone who might have seen him with it before the attack to call a confidential hotline.

Counterterrorism squads are trying to recreate Salman Abedi’s movements in the days before he detonated a bomb at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, killing 22 people. Police believe Abedi had the wheeled suitcase with him at two locations in Manchester.

The suitcase was not used in the attack, which was carried out when Abedi detonated an improvised bomb minutes after the concert ended, Greater Manchester Police Detective Chief Superintendent Russ Jackson said.

Jackson tried to reassure nervous residents of Manchester that the bag does not pose a risk to public safety. But if any members of the public find it, they should not approach it, but call police immediately, he said.

“We have no reason to believe the case and its contents contain anything dangerous, but would ask people to be cautious,” Jackson said.

He said Abedi might have had the blue suitcase with him when he visited the Wilmslow Road area and the Manchester city centre in the days before the blast.

“Did you see Abedi with this suitcase between the 18th and the 22nd of May 2017? Where did you see him with it during that time?” Jackson said.

SUSPICION OF TERRORISM

The bombing investigation expanded early yesterday when police arrested a 23-year-old man on the south coast of England, hundreds of miles south of Manchester.

Greater Manchester Police said the man was arrested in Shoreham-by-Sea on suspicion of terrorism offences and an address there was being searched.

The arrest means that 14 men are now in custody in Britain for suspected roles in Britain’s worst attack in a decade.

The suspects have not been identified or charged. All are being held on suspicion of violating the Terrorism Act.