Arrest warrant issued for bomber’s brother
The elder brother of bomber Salman Abedi will be arrested and brought to the Manchester Arena Inquiry to give evidence if he comes back to the UK, a judge has ruled.
Ismail Abedi, 28, had been ordered to attend the public inquiry into the May 2017 terror attack, but boarded a flight to Istanbul from Manchester Airport at the end of August and has not returned.
Bereaved families of the 22 people killed in the explosion, which include Eilidh Macleod, 14, from Barra, br anded him a coward for refusing to attend in October and give an account as to how Salman Abedi, 22, had become radicalised.
They said they were shocked how he was allowed to flee a day after he missed a flight when he was stopped and questioned by police and told them he was going on a threeweek break.
Yesterday, Mr Justice Sweeney, sitting at Manchester Civil Justice Centre, granted an application from inquiry chair Sir John Saunders to issue a bench warrant against
Abedi. Paul Greaney QC, for the applicant, argued Abedi had “important” evidence to give on his younger brother’s path to extremism.
He said the inquiry heard this week their father Ramadan Abedi was associated with the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, a militia that had links with terror group al-qaeda.
Another Abedi brother, Hashem, 24, was jailed for life last year for the 22 murders by assisting the bomb plot.
Mr Greaney said: “The question that the inquiry would like to pose is: was Ramadan Abedi a violent Islamist extremist and if so did that rub off on his sons?” He said the inquiry also wants to know if Salman and
Hashem had received military training in Libya after photographs of the pair holding weapons were found on Ismail’s phone.
Another area to probe would be to ask Ismail if it was “just a coincidence” that Salman spent increased time with mutual friend Abdalraouf Abdallah, 28 – later jailed for terrorism offences – in 2015 and 2016, said Mr Greaney.
Finally, Abedi has potential relevant evidence to give, said Mr Greaney, on the preparation of the bomb given his DNA was found on a hammer in a car used to store the explosives.