Britain Chastises US Over Leak of Bomber's Name

Meanwhile, authorities say assailant was part of a 'network'
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 24, 2017 10:59 AM CDT
Britain Chastises US Over Leak of Bomber's Name
A woman places flowers in Albert Square in Manchester, England, on Wednesday.   (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Authorities in Britain are more sure than ever that Salman Abedi didn't act alone when he detonated a suicide bomb at the Ariana Grande concert. But they're also ticked at the US that the world knows Abedi's name. The leak to the media originally came from a US source, and British Home Secretary Amber Rudd has expressed her frustration to Washington, reports UPI. "The British police have been very clear they want to control the flow of information in order to protect operational integrity—the element of surprise—so it is irritating if it gets released from other sources, and I've been very clear with our friends that that should not happen again," she said. In other developments:

  • Brother arrested: A total of four people have been arrested in connection with the attack, including Abedi's older brother, Ismael. The BBC reports that authorities think the younger Abedi was a "mule" who set off a bomb built by others. "I think it's very clear that this is a network that we are investigating," says Chief Constable Ian Hopkins.
  • Father denies: Ramadan Abedi, father of Salman, doesn't think his son is a bomber or a militant. "We don't believe in killing innocents," the elder Abedi, who now lives in his native Libya, tells the AP. "This is not us." He said he spoke to Salman less than a week ago, and he sounded "normal."
  • Worried parents: But a friend says Salman Abedi's parents were so worried about his radicalization that they took his passport and returned it only when he said he planned to visit the city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, reports the New York Times. Instead, he flew from Libya to England, where he grew up. (Salman had traveled to Libya recently to visit his parents.)
  • Profile: The BBC pulls together what's known about Salman Abedi, who dropped out of college, went to work in a bakery, and seemed to grow "more and more religious," says a former classmate.
  • Victims: The Telegraph continues to compile bios on the 22 people killed. An off-duty police officer was among them, while her husband was critically injured.
(More Manchester stories.)

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