Cousins’ shock at how ‘bubbly’ Abedi turned into killer
THE cousins of Salman Abedi have said the Manchester terrorist was “bubbly and laid back”, and that they had “not stopped crying” over his actions.
Abz Forjani, who runs a barber shop that was raided by the police, was released without charge alongside his brother Isaac after being arrested in the terrorism raids.
“He didn’t have a special character, he was just a bubbly person that always acted normal,” Mr Forjani, 24, told ITV News. “He never came and spoke to me about something serious. If he had, maybe I could have done something about it. If I could deny he was my cousin I would.”
It comes as Greater Manchester Police released more images of Abedi last night as they try and piece together his movements before he massacred 22 people at Manchester Arena last week.
Detectives are urging anyone who saw him in the days leading up to the attack in the Rusholme area to contact them. They are also trying to ascertain if he bought any parts of the bomb before he left the country on April 15.
The two cousins, whose 19-year-old brother Alharth is still under arrest, said they “could not believe” how he could be responsible for the atrocity.
Abz’s brother Isaac, also 24, said: “I couldn’t stop crying, especially the first few days when I was getting questioned. And every time that story was brought up, little girls, innocent lives.”
“You just couldn’t just stop yourself from crying, that’s all you can do.”
Ten men, aged between 18 and 44, still remain in custody on suspicion of offences contrary to the Terrorism Act in relation to the attack.