UK hunts for bomber network, row over US leaks
VICTIMS REMEMBERED: A shellshocked Britain held a minute of silence to remember the victims of the latest IS-claimed atrocity
MANCHESTER: Britain pressed a manhunt on Thursday for a Libyalinked militant network thought to be behind the deadly Manchester bombing as US President Donald Trump threatened to prosecute those responsible for leaking investigation details to the US media.
London reacted furiously after sensitive details about the investigation into Monday night’s suicide attack which targeted young concert goers, killing 22 people, appeared in the US press.
With the row over intelligencesharing escalating, a shellshocked Britain held a minute of silence to remember the victims of the latest IS-claimed atrocity to hit Europe.
As more children were named as victims of the massacre, Libyan authorities detained the bomber’s father and his brother while police in Britain carried out fresh arrests and raids.
After bowing their heads for the minute’s silence, the grieving crowd in Manchester’s St Ann’s Square broke into a spontaneous rendition of “Don’t Look Back in Anger” by the city’s own Britpop band Oasis.
It was a message of defiance three days after Manchester-born Salman Abedi’s attack on young fans attending a concert by US pop star Ariana Grande.
As the nation mourned, Queen Elizabeth II visited children injured in the attack at a hospital in the north- western city.
Three days after the attack, some 75 people are still being treated in hospital, including 23 in critical condi- tion, medical officials said. the injured are under 16.
As investigators pushed ahead with the probe into the attack, British authorities were left “furious” by repeated leaks of material shared with their US counterparts that they said undermined the investigation.
In Brussels for a Nato summit on Thursday, Prime Minister Theresa Twelve of May confronted Trump over the issue.
“She expressed the view that the intelligence sharing relationship we have with the US is hugely important and valuable, but that the information that we share should be kept secure,” May’s spokesman said.
Trump, who led Nato allies in paying respects to the victims, slammed the alleged leaks as “deeply troubling” warning that those responsible could face prosecution.
“The alleged leaks coming out of government agencies are deeply troubling,” Trump said in a statement issued by the White House. “If appropriate, the culprit should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Images obtained by The New York Times newspaper showed a detonator Abedi was said to have carried in his left hand, shrapnel including nuts and screws and the shredded remains of a blue backpack.
“We are furious. This is completely unacceptable,” a government ministry source said of the images.
British officials said Abedi had been on the intelligence radar before the massacre.