Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Campaigning resumes in U.K.
Days after bombing, Labor leader links terror to wars
LONDON — Four days after a suicide bombing in the United Kingdom, political campaigning for a general election in two weeks resumed Friday with the main opposition leader linking acts of terrorism at home to foreign wars such as the one in Libya.
Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn claimed that his party, if it takes power after the June 8 vote, would change the U.K.’s foreign policy by abandoning the “war on terror.” Corbyn, in his remarks, alluded to the Manchester Arena attack that killed 22 people.
“Many experts, including professionals in our intelligence and security services, have pointed to the connections between wars our government has supported or fought in other countries, such as Libya, and terrorism here at home,” Corbyn said in his first speech since Monday night’s attack.
National campaigning had been on hold to honor the victims of the bombing, which occurred at an Ariana Grande concert.
Salman Abedi, the bomber who struck the concert, had strong links to Libya. His parents were born and lived there before moving to the U.K. in the early 1990s. They eventually returned with several of their six children, and Abedi traveled there to visit his family on occasion.
Prime Minister Theresa May, who was attending a summit of the Group of Seven in Sicily, said that while she was at the summit rallying support for the fight against terrorism, “Jeremy Corbyn has said that terror attacks in Britain are our own fault, and he has said that just a few days after one of the worst terror attacks” in the country’s history.
“There can never, ever, be an excuse for terrorism,” she said, adding that “the choice people face at the general election has become starker.”
Grande, meanwhile, said that she would return to Manchester for a benefit concert to raise money for the victims and their families. The American singer didn’t announce a date for the concert.
“Our response to this violence must be to come closer together, to help each other, to love more, to sing louder and to live more kindly and generously than we did before,” Grande said in a statement.
Grande suspended her Dangerous Woman world tour and canceled several European shows after the bombing. The tour will restart June 7 in Paris.
British police investigating the Manchester bombing made a new arrest Friday while continuing to search 12 properties.
Officials expressed confidence Friday that they had rounded up the bulk of the bomber’s associates, and said their efforts to avert a follow-up attack appeared to be succeeding.
“We’ve got hold of a large part of the network behind Manchester bombing,” said Mark Rowley, the top counterterrorism official for the Metropolitan Police in London.
A total of eight men are in custody over accusations of offenses violating the Terrorism Act. Their ages range from 18 to 38.
A 16-year-old boy and a 34-year-old woman who had been arrested were released without charge, police said.
Authorities are chasing possible links between the Abedi and militants in Manchester, elsewhere in Europe, and in North Africa and the Middle East. Britain’s security level has been upgraded to “critical,” meaning officials believe another attack may be imminent.
Manchester Police Chief Ian Hopkins said substantial progress has been made but detective work remains.
Abedi, a college dropout who had grown up in the Manchester area, was known to security services because of his radical views. His parents went to Britain early in the 1990s.
He reportedly was in contact with family members just before the attack.
The names of the people in custody have not been released. No one has yet been charged in the bombing.
British police working on the case have resumed intelligence sharing with U.S. counterparts after a brief halt because of anger over leaks to U.S. media thought by the U.K. to be coming from U.S. officials.
British officials say they have received assurances from U.S. authorities that confidential material will be protected.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Friday in London that the U.S. accepts responsibility for the leaks.
“We take full responsibility for that and we obviously regret that that happened,” Tillerson said after a lunch meeting with British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson at the British diplomat’s London residence. “This special relationship that exists between our two countries will certainly withstand this particular unfortunate event,” Tillerson said.
“All across America, hearts are broken” about the victims of the bombing, Tillerson said.
Johnson played down any lasting rift between British and American intelligence authorities, praising the “vital importance” of work between U.S. and British authorities, including intelligence sharing.
“Around the world you will find the U.S. and the U.K. facing the same problems together,” Johnson said.