Councils and funeral directors refuse to deal with Abedi remains
SUICIDE bomber Salman Abedi’s body will not be buried or cremated in Manchester after officials refused to deal with his remains.
Authorities said they would do everything in their power to ensure that his body was not laid to rest in the city where he murdered 22 people in last week’s atrocity.
Sources confirmed that his remains have so far been kept in a mortuary outside the Greater Manchester area, away from those of his victims.
His body remains the property of the coroner who must now decide what course of action to take.
Abedi’s family are not in a position to receive his body, with his parents and younger brother in Libya.
His elder brother, Ismail, remains in custody in Manchester, having been arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences the day after the bombing. One source said there was a determination within the city that Abedi should not be laid to rest there.
The move comes just weeks after councils across the UK refused to handle the remains of Moors Murderer, Ian Brady, who had requested that his ashes be scattered in his native Glasgow.
A local authority in Greater Manchester asked all funeral directors to reject any request to cremate Brady’s body. Tameside Council also reportedly asked them to have no involvement in the disposal of the serial killer’s body.
The source said: “Just like Ian Brady, every effort is going in to making sure that there is not a chance Abedi can be buried or cremated in Greater Manchester.”
A spokesman added: “The body is the property of the coroner and the coronial process must take place.”
Abedi was identified as the attacker by specialist counter terrorism forensic teams within two hours of his device detonating after the Ariana Grande concert.
He was born and raised in Manchester, the second youngest of four children. His parents, mother Samia Tabbal and father Ramadan Abedi, a security officer, are Libyan-born refugees who fled to the UK to escape Gaddafi.
It is thought they returned in 2011 following Gaddafi’s overthrow.