Militia may help extradite brother of Manchester bomber
DOWNING Street has said Britain will do everything in its power to extradite the younger brother of Salman Abedi, the Manchester Arena suicide bomber, so he can face justice over his alleged involvement in the atrocity.
Greater Manchester Police this week issued a warrant for Hashim Abedi for the murder of 22 people, the attempted murder of those who were injured and conspiracy to cause an explosion.
A counter-terrorism militia group holding the 20-year-old at first rejected the request yesterday, but last night said it would give him up if the extradition was approved by the country’s attorney general.
“If there is agreement between the attorney general and the British authorities, we are ready for the next step,” said Ahmad Ben Salim, a spokesman for the Special Deterrence Force (Rada), a counter-terrorism group aligned with the Un-backed government in Tripoli.
The two brothers had travelled to Libya in April, before Salman returned alone and on May 22 blew himself up in crowds leaving an Ariana Grande pop concert at Manchester Arena.
Rada told The Daily Telegraph earlier this year it had arrested Hashim as part of a separate plot to bomb a senior UN official in Libya.
Hashim was alleged to have been a “significant player” in a cell planning to target Martin Kobler, the head of the United Nations Support Mission, during a visit to Tripoli. During interrogation, he is also alleged to have said he was aware of the details of his brother’s attack and said the pair had joined the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) group. It is not clear what conditions the confession was made under.
Theresa May’s official spokesman said yesterday: “We are determined to do everything in our power to ensure that those suspected of being responsible for the Manchester attack are brought back to face justice in the UK.
“That is why the Home Secretary has agreed to the extradition request in this case. [He] continues to receive regular updates and we will work closely with the Crown Prosecution Service, police and Libyan authorities to try to secure the return of Abedi to the UK.”