Manchester bomber kept visiting Libyan jihadi in jail ... but MI5 failed to stop him
‘Let down by the authorities’
MANCHESTER bomber Salman Abedi made repeated prison visits to a convicted Libyan jihadist in the months leading to the attack.
The terrorist regularly went to see Abdalraouf Abdallah, who was jailed after trying to help other Manchester fanatics join extremists in Syria.
Abedi, 22, visited privately-run Altcourse Prison in Liverpool up to three times this year. His last trip was in March, but it is understood it was not ‘red flagged’ because Abedi was not on a terror watch list.
However, he was ‘known’ to MI5 and other security services, and his frequent visits to a convicted jihadist raise serious questions about why authorities did not take more notice.
It was also claimed yesterday that Abedi was reported five times to a terror hotline as a possible threat but nothing was done.
Prison sources said wheelchair-bound Abdallah, 24, was being kept in an isolated unit for his safety as police try to establish whether the visits were in any way linked to Abedi’s suicide attack on May 22.
Abdallah, of Manchester’s Moss Side, is the son of a Libyan dissident and came to the UK with his family as a refugee in 1993. He was jailed for five and a half years at Woolwich Crown Court in July last year after being convicted of helping other jihadists travel to Syria and providing funds for terrorism.
Among those he helped was RAF veteran and Muslim convert Stephen Gray, who also grew up in Moss Side. Gray, who failed to reach Syria, admitted three terror offences and was jailed for five years.
Abdallah travelled to Libya in 2010 and is said to have joined the 17th February Martyr’s Brigade, an Islamist group that includes fighters linked to Al Qaeda.
He was left paraplegic after being shot in the 2011 uprising, before returning to the UK. It is understood that Abedi visited Abdallah last year as well. A source close to the prison said: ‘ Salman Abedi met Abdallah not long before the bombing and regularly in previous months, always being referenced as a “friend” on the visitation order form.’ The source claimed the prison did not investigate or monitor the visits.
Greater Manchester Police and G4S, which runs Altcourse, declined to comment. A Ministry of Justice spokesman would not comment ‘due to the ongoing police investigation’.
UK-born Abedi, who grew up in Whalley Range, Manchester, spent time in Libya after the 2011 revolution, but it is believed he was radicalised after returning to Britain. Faith leaders from his mosque and members of the Libyan community raised the alarm years ago, a Muslim leader claimed yesterday.
Yousef Hageg, of Community On Solid Ground, a group Abedi and his brother Hashem attended, said the system for reporting concerns over extremism was ‘broken’.
‘There were five different people around Didsbury mosque who raised that he was a threat but the Government didn’t act,’ he said.
‘Five people of different backgrounds … that is something they should listen to. I understand it’s resource intensive, but that’s what our taxpayers’ money is for. We were let down by the authorities.’
Scotland Yard said it would be inappropriate to comment on whether information was received.
An Abedi family friend confirmed the bomber knew Abdallah. Abdallah’s uncle Boukhalfa Lalouche said: ‘ I don’t know if there are any links between the two.’