Manchester bomb suspect: ‘Forgive me’
Relative says Abedi sought forgiveness before explosion
The suspect in the deadly concert bombing was driven by what he saw as unjust treatment of Arabs in Britain, a relative says, confirming he made a final phone call in which he pleaded: “Forgive me.”
MANCHESTER, England — The suspect in the deadly Manchester concert bombing was driven by what he saw as unjust treatment of Arabs in Britain, a relative said Thursday, confirming he made a final phone call in which he pleaded: “Forgive me.”
Salman Abedi was particularly upset by the killing last year of a Muslim friend whose death he believed went unnoticed by “infidels” in the U.K., said the relative, speaking on condition of anonymity over concerns for her own security.
“Why was there no outrage for the killing of an Arab and a Muslim in such a cruel way?” she said. “Rage was the main reason,” for the blast that killed 22 at the end of an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena on Monday night, she said, speaking by telephone from Libya.
The new insight into Abedi’s motivation came as Britons faced steppedup security, authorities pushed forward with raids and the investigation extended across Europe into Libya, where most of the suspected bomber’s family lived.
Arrests increase
The number of arrests in the U.K. ticked up to eight as British Transport Police said armed officers would begin patrols on some trains because of an increased threat of terrorism. Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said, without elaborating, that searches of suspects’ homes brought “very important” clues. But leaks from the investigation were creating a trans-Atlantic diplomatic mess.
British Prime Minister Theresa May, who spoke about the matter with U.S. President Donald Trump at a NATO summit in Brussels, said the countries’ partnership on defense and security was built on trust. But “part of that trust is knowing that intelligence can be shared confidently,” she said.
Trump pledged to “get to the bottom” of the “deeply troubling” leaks, asking the Justice Department and other agencies to “launch a complete review of this matter.”
British security services were also upset that 22-year-old Abedi’s name was apparently leaked by U.S. officials while police in the U.K. continued withholding it and while raids were underway in Manchester and Libya. Hopkins said the leaks “caused much distress for families that are already suffering terribly with their loss.”
Meanwhile, the investigation into the blast widened.
Authorities chased possible links between Abedi and militants in Manchester, elsewhere in Europe, and in North Africa and the Middle East. They were exploring potential ties to Abdalraouf Abdallah, a Libyan jailed in the U.K. for terror offenses, and to Raphael Hostey, an Islamic State recruiter killed in Syria.
Abedi’s kin detained
Abedi’s family remained a focus, too, with a brother in England, his father and another brother in Libya among those detained. Abedi’s father was allegedly a member of the al-Qaida-backed Libyan Islamic Fighting group in the 1990s — a claim he denies.
An emerging portrait of the bomber remained complicated by competing assessments over whether Abedi held views that had sparked concern before the bombing.
Akram Ramadan, a member of the Libyan community in Manchester who attends the city’s Didsbury Mosque, said Abedi was banned from the mosque after he allegedly interrupted an imam’s anti-Islamic State sermon.
“He stood up and started calling the imam — ‘You are talking bollocks,’ ” Ramadan said. “And he gave a good stare, a threatening stare into the imam’s eyes.”
Around the U.K., many fell silent Thursday for a late-morning minute in tribute to the victims.
In Manchester’s St. Ann’s Square, where a sea of floral tributes grew by the hour, a crowd sang the hometown band Oasis’ song “Don’t Look Back in Anger.”
Queen Elizabeth II visited victims of the attack at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, telling 14-year-old Evie Mills and her parents: “It’s dreadful. Very wicked, to target that sort of thing.”
Millie Robson, 15, told the queen she had won VIP tickets to the pop star’s concert. She recalled leaving the concert when the blast struck, “Compared to other people I’m quite lucky really,” she said.