UK reduces threat level as more arrested in concert bombing probe
>> MANCHESTER: British Prime Minister Theresa May announced yesterday that Britain had reduced its terror threat level from critical to severe, having raised it after Monday’s Manchester bombing, as more arrests were made.
“A significant amount of police action has taken place over the last 24 hours and there are now 11 suspects in custody,” Ms May said in a statement.
“In the light of the developments, the independent joint terrorism analysis centre has this morning taken the decision to reduce the threat level from critical to severe.”
Police said they arrested two more people during raids yesterday in connection with the suicide bombing, with a “large part” of the network behind the attack now being held.
The two men, aged 20 and 22, were arrested in north Manchester yesterday after police gained entry to an address using a controlled explosion.
The arrests bring to 11 the number of suspects held in Britain over Monday’s blast at a concert by US pop idol Ariana Grande, in which 22 people died and 116 were injured, and for which the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility.
Police in Libya have detained the father and brother of 22-year-old bomber Salman Abedi.
Abedi reportedly returned from Libya only a few days before the attack but police are still trying to pin down his movements as well as determine whether he was part of a wider network.
“We are very happy we’ve got our hands around some of the key players that we are concerned about but there’s still a little bit more to do,” Mark Rowley, head of Britain’s counterterrorism police, said on Friday.
The bombing was the latest in a series of IS-claimed attacks in Europe that have coincided with an offensive on the jihadist group in Syria and Iraq by US, British and other Western forces.
Dozens of IS fighters were killed in US strikes in Syria on Friday, while masked gunmen killed at least 29 people in an attack on Coptic Christians in Egypt.
But as campaigning resumed in Britain for a snap June 8 election following a halt called after Monday’s attack, the issue of security, which had not been widely discussed before the attack, was poised to feature highly.
Opposition Labour l eader Jeremy Corbyn said it was the “responsibility” of governments to minimise the risk of terror by giving police the funding they need, after cuts made while Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May served as interior minister.
The number of police officers fell by 14%, or almost 20,000, from 2009 to 2016, according to the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank.
At the G7 summit meeting in Sicily on Friday, Ms May faced questions from journalists over the police funding cuts during her six years as the interior minister. “We have protected counterterrorism police funding, we’ve increased the funding for our security and intelligence agencies and we continue to provide them with the support they need,” Ms May said.
She also urged the G7 leaders to demand action from internet providers and social media companies to keep extremist content from getting online. “The fight is moving from the battlefield to the internet,” she said.
A YouGov poll in The Times newspaper put the Conservatives at 43% compared with Labour at 38%, far better for Labour than the double-digit margin that had previously separated it from the governing party.
But the poll also suggested that 41% of respondents believe the Conservatives would handle defence and security best, while just 18% said the same of Labour.
Authorities are currently handling 500 terror-related investigations into 3,000 individuals, and it was revealed on Friday that around 20,000 more people are on the intelligence radar as posing a “residual risk”.