Fourth Manchester Arena bomb suspect arrested

POLICE investigating the Manchester Arena attack yesterday arrested a man suspected of helping to buy bomb-making chemicals for the brothers behind the plot.

Greater Manchester Police said the 24-year-old was detained on suspicion of preparing an act of terror shortly after arriving back in the UK at Manchester Airport yesterday afternoon.

The suspect left the UK in April 2017 and is understood not to be Ismail Abedi, the older brother of Salman, the bomber, and Hashem, who helped to plan the May 2017 attack.

Ismail Abedi left the UK in August, despite being due to appear at the public inquiry into the atrocity this week.

It is believed the man arrested yesterday is suspected of ordering the sulphuric acid used in the suicide bomb for Hashem Abedi in March 2017.

The man, from the Fallowfield area of the city, travelled to Libya in April 2017 – the month before the bombing, which killed 22 people – and has not returned to the UK since.

Simon Barraclough, the senior investigating officer, said: “Greater Manchester Police remains committed to establishing the truth surrounding the circumstances of the terror attack.”