‘Missed chances’ to prevent Arena bombing
NEW REPORT CRITICISES SECRET SERVICES FOR ‘NUMBER OF FAILURES’ AND ‘MISSED OPPORTUNITIES’ TO PREVENT ATTACK
A PARLIAMENTARY review into the Manchester Arena terrorist atrocity has found ‘potential opportunities to prevent’ the attack were missed.
The damming report reveals the bomber, Salman Abedi, ‘visited an extremist contact in prison’ on more than one occasion before the attack.
But ‘no follow-up action’ was taken by either MI5 or counter terror police.
MI5, adds the report, ‘decided not to place travel monitoring or travel restrictions on Salman Abedi,’ which MPs concluded allowed him to return undetected to the UK in the days before the deadly attack.
The security service was also criticised for its system of monitoring.
Abedi, 22, was said to be an ‘individual of interest’ but wasn’t under ‘active investigation’ at the time.
And the report reveals Prime Minister Theresa May is looking at another secret, classified report into the attack, the contents of which cannot be revealed due to ‘sensitive security aspects.’
The criticisms are contained in the publication of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament’s report on the five serious terror attacks in the UK last year.
The committee’s chairman, Dominic Grieve QC, MP, said: “Abedi had in fact been flagged for review, but MI5’s systems moved too slowly and the review had not happened prior to him launching his attack.”
“What we can say is that there were a number of failures in the handling of Salman Abedi’s case and while it is impossible to say whether these would have prevented the devastating attack on 22 May, we have concluded that, as a result of the failings, potential opportunities to prevent it were missed.” Abedi detonated a rucksack bomb in a foyer area of the Arena on May 22 last year after an Ariana Grande concert, killing 22 people and injuring many hundreds more. His younger brother, Hashem Abedi, is still believed to be in Libya, but is facing charges of murder and attempted murder. The five serious attacks referenced in the report were at Westminster, the Manchester Arena, London Bridge, Finsbury Park and Parsons Green. A total of 36 lives were lost. The committee’s chairman, Mr Grieve, said immediately after each attack, MI5 and counter terror police launched internal reviews into the circumstances behind each attack.
He said the committee found their reviews were ‘thorough.’
But he said: “Nevertheless, we regarded it as essential to ascertain for ourselves whether mistakes were made, and to ensure that all changes and improvements required have been identified.”
One major finding involved the use of explosives.
Abedi is believed to have bought elements of the bomb he used in Manchester.
The committee said it found ‘the system for regulating and reporting purchases of the ingredients used to make explosives was hopelessly out of date in dealing with the threat posed and this facilitated the perpetrators in
Abedi had in fact been flagged for review, but MI5’s systems moved too slowly Committee chairman Dominic Greave
acquiring the materials they required.’
The process of information sharing between retailers and law enforcement ‘must now be kept under review,’ Mr Grieve said.
On Abedi’s visits to an extremist contact in prison, the MP added: “In our opinion, known extremist prisoners should not be able to maintain links with those vulnerable to extremism and we have therefore recommended that the ‘Approved Visitors Scheme’ is extended to all extremist prisoners.”
He said MI5 have now admitted it should have placed monitored or restricted Abedi’s ability to travel, and revised its policies.
“The question of how ‘closed’ or ‘peripheral’ subjects of interest are managed is a crucial issue which has been the subject of previous recommendations by the committee. Planned improvements must now be prioritised.
“We also note in relation to Salman Abedi that, despite being known to MI5 from 2014, he was not at any point considered for a referral to the Prevent programme. This failure to use the Prevent programme is, similarly, not a new issue and we would have expected lessons already to have been learned,” Mr Grieve said.
Prevent was a government initiative designed to intervene with individuals deemed to be at risk of being groomed by extremists.
He added: “There is one further issue which caused us serious concern in relation to Salman Abedi, but which we cannot comment on publicly due to the highly sensitive security aspects. This is contained in the classified report sent to the Prime Minister, for her to take action.”
The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC) is a statutory committee of Parliament that has responsibility for oversight of the UK intelligence community.
The ISC oversees the intelligence and security activities of the UK, including the policies, expenditure, administration and operations of MI5, MI6 and the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).
Home Secretary Sajid Javid said: “My thoughts remain with the victims and families of last year’s attack – which only serve to strengthen our resolve against those who seek to threaten our freedoms and do us harm.
“Following the attacks, the government, police and MI5 undertook a series of rigorous reviews to ensure we are all doing everything we can to tackle the evolving threat of terrorism.”