Manchester assassination: Was revenge the subject?
Another suspect arrested – More people hurt than known so far
The Libyan-born suicide bomber from Manchester is said to have been driven by “revenge” according to his environment. The Rachemotiv goes back to the assassination of a likewise Libyan-like friend by British youth in Manchester last year, proclaimed on Thursday from the environment of the assassin’s family.
The dissemination of internal investigations by US authorities to the media burdened the relations between Great Britain and the United States.
Abdul Wahab Hafidah, a friend of the 22-year-old assassin Salman Abedi, had been persecuted by British youths in Manchester in May 2016 and finally stabbed. The alleged murderers are currently in court. As reported in the Abedis environment, the rage broke out among young Libyans in Manchester and especially at Salman Abedi.
Abedi’s sister, Jomana, told the Wall Street Journal that her brother wanted to avenge the death of Muslim children in the world, such as “American bombs.”
Abedi is blamed for suicide on a pop concert on Monday evening in Manchester. 22 people were killed and more than 100 injured. Among the victims are many children and young people.
Further suspect arrested
On Friday morning the police arrested another suspect. Thus, the number of arrests increased to ten, two of which were free again, the police tweaked.
In the attack, significantly more people have been injured than hitherto known. As reported by the state’s UK health authority NHS (National Health Service) on Thursday, 116 people were sent to hospitals after Monday’s attack. At the moment, 75 injured patients are treated in hospital.
In connection with the attack in Manchester, the police in the UK have searched two more houses in the district of Moss Side and at St. Helens west of Manchester. This was announced by the authorities on Friday on Twitter. The search had not taken place at the place of the capture, but in another building, it said.
Investigations by US partners more difficult
The investigation into the attack was made more difficult, according to the British security authorities, by the fact that the US partners had launched internal information to the media.
Prime Minister Theresa May addressed US President Donald Trump to the issue at the NATO summit in Brussels. According to a spokesman, she said the exchange of information between the two countries is extremely important, but the information must remain secure. In British government circles it had previously been said that it was “completely unacceptable” that evidence of traceability would be published in US media.
According to BBC information, the police, because of the indiscretions, stopped the transmission of their findings to the attack to the US authorities, as is customary among partner countries.
Trump wants to “track”
Trump announced that they would “track” the people responsible for sharing the information. The leakage of internal information is “deeply disturbing”. He also emphasized the “special relationship” between the United States and Great Britain. US Foreign Secretary Rex Tillerson announced, according to the British Foreign Office, that he would come to a solidarity visit to the UK on Friday.
On Thursday in the Manchester area, the British police arrested two other suspects in connection with the attack. This meant that a total of eight suspects were held in British police custody by Thursday. The police were not told what exactly had been charged to them.
Father and brother of the assassin
In Libya, the father and brother of the suicide bomber were also arrested on Wednesday. The authorities there declared on Thursday, in which case work closely with Great Britain.
According to the police, the brother Hashem Abedi said that he, like the assassin of the jihadist militia, belonged to the Islamic state (IS) and had been in the UK during the preparations for the attack.
The father Ramadan Abedi was a member of the radical-Islamic “Libyan combat group” in the 90s. In 2011, he returned from the United Kingdom to Libya, according to British media, to fight alongside the rebel against the then-powerful Muammar al-Gaddafi. His son Salman is said to have accompanied him according to the “Wall Street Journal”.
After the fall of Gaddafi, Ramadan took over a position with the police in Tripoli, according to the Libyan authorities. The father responded, according to the Libyan church in Manchester angry at the act of his son, Salman Abedi, however, traveled only.