Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
We’ve got hold of a big part of terror network behind attack
MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS: NET CLOSES ON RADICALS
POLICE urged people not to let terrorists ruin the bank holiday after revealing the Manchester bomb cell has been smashed.
Met chief Mark Rowley said the probe into killer Salman Abedi’s network had made “enormous progress”, with nine arrests. And he told people to enjoy the holiday weekend, as officers continue to look into how the warped maniac ended up killing 22 people, including seven children at a gig on Monday. Islamic State last night called for an “all-out war on the West”, sparking fears of further bloodshed. Hospitals were still on high alert after the threat level was raised to critical, armed police are also patrolling trains and even beaches. Officers reviewed security at more than 1,300 events this weekend. But Assistant Commissioner Mr Rowley said police had snared a “large part of the network” that supported Abedi, 22. He added: “Enjoy yourselves. We can’t let the terrorists win by dissuading us from going about our normal business. “There will be extra officers on duty, and that will include hundreds of armed officers. Extra firearms officers have been out on streets because we have backfilled guarding posts at key places with military personnel. Their presence at these sites will continue throughout the weekend.” On smashing the terror cell, he added: “We are very happy we’ve got our hands around some of the key players that we are concerned about. “There still remain important lines of inquiry for us to pursue. We’ve got to understand everything about the terrorist, his associates, the whole network and how they acquired and built the bomb. “We have made enormous progress but there are still some really important lines of inquiry to follow through.”
Security minister Ben Wallace said there is no specific threat against an individual event at the moment. But additional armed officers will be at events such as this evening’s FA Cup Final at Wembley between Chelsea and Arsenal. A 44-year-old man was last night arrested in Rusholme over the bombing. The arrest takes the number of suspects in custody to nine. They include Abedi’s brother Ismail, 24, who was arrested in the street by armed police on Tuesday. Three of the his cousins – brothers aged 18, 21, and 24 – were held in the Fallowfield area on Wednesday. A barber shop in Moss Side run by two other cousins, Abderahman Forjani and Abdallah Forjani, was raided yesterday. Police were also searching a nearby terraced house. Abedi’s father Ramadan and brother Hashem, 19, are being held by authorities in Libya where they live. A 16-year-old boy arrested at his home in Withington, Manchester, on Thursday morning was released without charge. Mr Rowley called the nine arrests “very significant”. IS called for all-out war with a sick offer of “rewards” for “soldiers and supporters in Europe and America” who target civilians in cowardly attacks. Spokesman Abu Hassan al-muhajir told them: “Prepare yourselves and be ready.” There are 500 terror probes in the UK relating to 3,000 jihadists. Detectives are looking at financial records to find who bought key parts for the Monday’s bomb. A former teacher of Abedi’s at Burnage Academy for Boys yesterday described the killer as an “averagely lazy, dislikeable boy”. But Mark Roberts insisted the pupil did not show any radical tendencies. And he believes he was incapable of plotting the attack alone as he was “slow, uneducated and passive”. Police said there has been a spike in hate crime in Manchester since the bomb.
We can’t let terrorists dissuade us from going about our business MR ROWLEY ENCOURAGES PUBLIC TO ENJOY WEEKEND
WORLD leaders declared war on social media giants yesterday as the backlash against online terror grew.
The G7 group issued an unprecedented order telling internet outfits like Google, Facebook and Twitter to “act urgently” in developing new tools to block violent content. The joint statement represented a significant win for Theresa May at her first G7 summit. The PM has led the charge against online terror, first as Home Secretary and then as Prime Minister – and now has other world leaders on her side. UK officials said US President Donald Trump and new French President Emmanuel Macron proved key allies at the summit in Sicily, pressing other leaders to back the plan. The G7’s joint statement said: “The internet has proven to be a powerful tool for terrorist purposes. The G7 calls for communication service providers and social media companies to substantially increase their effort to address terrorist content. “We encourage the industry to act urgently in developing and sharing new technology and tools to improve the automatic detection of content promoting incitement to violence. And we commit to supporting industry efforts in this vein including the proposed industry-led forum for combating online extremism.” The leaders also agreed to work harder to tackle pro-jihadi propaganda with their own prowestern messages.
PROPAGANDA
The statement added: “We will support the promotion of alternative and positive narratives rooted in our common values. We will counter propaganda supporting terrorism.” Speaking afterwards, Mrs May said the commitment was a “significant” step forward. The PM said: “We will put our full weight behind the creation of this industry-led forum which will develop the technology and techniques that will be used to take material down. “I am very clear that we want this to be done more urgently and more rapidly than it is at the moment. It’s important that companies recognise their social responsibility. We need to work together to fight the evil of terrorism and no one can be in any doubt about what happened in Manchester of just how evil those terrorists are.” Mrs May also revealed British jihadis fighting with Islamic State could be intercepted, arrested
and jailed by security services in countries like Turkey as they try to return home. The PM urged fellow leaders to pool intelligence on homegrown jihadis with authorities in “third countries” they pass through while making their way back. The return of IS’S “foreign fighters” is one of the key threats faced by Western nations. It is feared the trickle of returning battle-hardened terrorists could soon become a flood as the terror group continues to lose ground in Iraq and Syria. Addressing leaders at a G7 session on counterterrorism yesterday, Mrs May said: “More of these fighters may try to return to their original country and pose a threat there. The G7 needs to share our expertise with countries foreign fighters travel through or fight in. We want to ensure those countries have the legal means to appropriately prosecute, extradite or deport.”
EVIDENCE
British officials highlighted the case of London-born jihadi Aine Davis, arrested in Istanbul in 2015 after Turkish security tracked him on his way back from Syria. He was found guilty of being a senior member of a terrorist organisation and jailed for seven-and-a-half years. Mrs May told President Trump, President Macron and other leaders the case showed why intelligence on homegrown jihadis must be shared. She said: “We need to securely share data on our foreign fighters, such as names and nationalities, so they can be spotted by different countries as they cross borders, and decisions made on whether they should be arrested. “This needs to be done within a clear legal framework. When our allies find evidence, such as video or papers, of illegal activity involving foreign fighters, for example a Brit in a conflict zone, they should pass that to our authorities.” Twitter declined to comment directly but said during the reporting period of July 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016, a total of 376,890 accounts were suspended for violations related to the promotion of terrorism. The firm added: “We plan to share updates on our efforts to combat violent extremism by including them in this new section of our transparency report.”
I think it’s important that companies recognise their social responsibility THERESA MAY ON WEB GIANTS TACKLING TERROR CONTENT