Attack may help boost post-Brexit security ties
Fear stalks bomber’s mosque
BRUSSELS, May 25, (Agencies): The Manchester attack may boost efforts to preserve long-standing British-EU intelligence sharing following Brexit, even if some forms of cooperation are affected by Britain leaving, experts say.
British Prime Minister Theresa May irked many in Europe when she warned that Britain, the biggest military power in the EU and a nuclear-armed NATO member, might hold back on security cooperation if it can’t get a good deal.
The suicide bombing then prompted French President Emmanuel Macron to call for bolstering European counter-terrorism cooperation, even as the European Union and Britain prepare to launch Brexit negotiations next month. But Steve Peers, a professor of European law at the University of Essex, thinks the attack that killed 22 people in the northern English city may make such a risk even more remote.
“It’s possible that the UK would be less likely to threaten the goal of security cooperation because there are cross-border elements that we know of in this case,” Peers told AFP.
Security services have identified the bomber as Salman Abedi, a local man of Libyan origin who may have been radicalised in Syria, a stronghold for the Islamic State group, which claimed responsiblity for the attack.
French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb told French television the suspect “grew up in Britain and then suddenly, after a trip to Libya and then likely to Syria, became radicalised and decided to carry out this attack”.
Peers added it is “maybe a little less credible to threaten to end this cooperation in light of a fairly recent attack”.
He pointed out that much counter-terrorism cooperation happens outside EU channels.
Arnaud Danjean, a member of the European Parliament who worked for the DGSE, France’s foreign intelligence service, dismissed fears of a breakdown in intelligence cooperation as overblown.
“European counter-terrorism cooperation is the preserve of national agencies and intelligence services on a bilateral or trilateral basis rather than in a centralised way,” Danjean told AFP.
Bombing
Meanwhile, it’s a moment all leaders dread: Standing on television to tell the nation there has been a bombing — and another attack might be coming.
British Prime Minister Theresa May, an unelected leader in office for less than a year, handled this week’s bombing in Manchester with a somber dignity that reassured many Britons, and will likely give her a boost when voters go to the polls on June 8.
“When you get an attack of this kind there’s a sort of ‘rally round the flag’ effect,” said Rob Ford, a professor of political science at Manchester University. “Support for all the institutions goes up, and normally support for the incumbent president or prime minister goes up.”
May is Britain’s surprise prime minister, selected by the Conservative Party after Prime Minister David Cameron unexpectedly resigned in the wake of last June’s vote to leave the European Union. Monday’s attack halted campaigning for an election called by May in a bid to increase her parliamentary majority and strengthen her hand in Brexit negotiations with the EU.
Britons are still getting to know their leader, and 60-year-old May so far has two standout traits: a love of boldly patterned shoes and a complete absence of personal flamboyance.
Before the attack, she was criticized for her pedestrian style in campaign speeches and interviews, which relied heavily on a near-robotic repetition of the slogan “strong and stable government.”
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MANCHESTER, United Kingdom: Worshippers at the mosque that the Manchester suicide bomber is believed to have frequented said they feared a backlash Wednesday, as the city’s mayor warned any attacks on Muslims would please terrorists.
Elders at the Didsbury mosque, a Victorian former Methodist chapel, reacted with disbelief to the attack and voiced concern about reports of Islamophobic attacks since the bombing at a pop concert which killed 22 people.
“The horrific atrocity that occurred in Manchester on Monday night shocked us all. This act of cowardice has no place in our religion,” said
Fawzi Haffar, a trustee at the mosque, joined outside the building by members of the Muslim community.
After a minute’s silence, he thanked those who had helped victims and urged people to contact police with any information about the attack.
The mosque stands in a leafy suburb of south Manchester popular with university students. It has operated since being bought in 1967 by donors from the Syrian community.
“It’s one of the most popular mosques in Manchester because they preach nothing but love here,”
Javed Akhtar, a regular attendee, told AFP as police stood guard outside the red-brick building. Akhtar said he had not come across Salman
Abedi, the 22-year-old attacker, whose family emigrated to Manchester from Libya.
But he said: “It’s unbelievable that you get a guy from here, who’s been here, who’s done such a terrible thing.” The attack has prompted soul-searching in Britain’s Muslim communities about homegrown radicals, as well as concerns about a possible backlash.
A woman arriving at the Didsbury mosque on Wednesday asked a police officer: “Are we all under arrest? We’re all under suspicion, aren’t we?”
Abedi’s father had sometimes performed the call to prayer at the mosque and his brother Ismael had been a volunteer, according to media reports.
Haffar did not detail the attacker’s relationship to the mosque, saying only that he had not been employed there.