Security service blunders will be investigated, pledges Rudd

Home Secretary promises action as it emerges US agents had tipped off UK about Manchester bomber’s plans

MISSED chances to catch Salman Abedi will be investigated the Home Secretary said yesterday as it was claimed that US officials warned MI5 that he was planning an attack.

As the security services faced growing questions over the failure to prevent Abedi from killing 22 people in the Manchester Arena, Amber Rudd said that whether there were “signals” that were not picked up on would be examined.

Despite the terror threat being reduced from critical to severe on Saturday, she confirmed that members of Abedi’s terror network could still be at large.

Yesterday Ms Rudd disclosed that a key counter-terrorism power, temporary exclusion orders, had been used for the first time since they were introduced in 2014,

It means British jihadists have been banned from returning to their home coun- try. Ms Rudd refused to say how frequently they have been deployed, but sources suggested the power has been used just once.

Yesterday the son of Abdelbaset al-megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, warned that the UK faced an unprecedented wave of terror from Libya after it had been abandoned by Western powers and fallen into the hands of terror groups.

Khaled al-megrahi, whose father was the only man ever convicted of the 1988 bombing, said from his home in Tripoli: “It is only a sea between us. A lot of Libyans are hungry, have no money and no justice.

“If the West continues its stance, you will see a lot of the militants coming to the UK… It was Manchester but tomorrow it will be some other place.”

It has also been reported that the FBI had told MI5 earlier this year that Abedi was part of a north African terror cell based in Manchester looking to launch an attack.

“Following this US tip-off, Abedi and other members of the gang were scrutinised by MI5. It was thought at the time that Abedi was planning to assassinate a political figure.

“But nothing came of this investigation and, tragically, he slipped down the pecking order of targets,” a source told The Mail on Sunday.

Ms Rudd said: “Of course people will want to look afterwards to see whether there are signals that could have been learnt, how could we do this better.”

“Signals” are normally used by the intelligence services to refer to emails

Yesterday afternoon Greater Manchester Police carried out further raids. Three men arrested in Moss Side were later released. A 25-year-old was detained in the Old Trafford area. Officers were also carrying out searches at addresses in Gorton and Rusholme this evening. A 19-year-old man was arrested at the Gorton address on suspicion of offences contrary to the Terrorism Act.

In total 15 people have been arrested in connection with the investigation, two of whom have since been released without charge.

♦ Donald Trump said Theresa May was “very angry” about US leaks of information on the attack. John Kelly, his homeland security secretary, said: “I think it’s darn close to treason. I don’t know why people do these kind of things, but it’s borderline – if not over the line – of treason.”