Bomber Said to Have Pleaded 'Forgive Me' Before UK Blast

Salman Abedi was reportedly upset over killing of Muslim friend in 2016
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 25, 2017 6:24 PM CDT
Bomber Said to Have Pleaded 'Forgive Me' Before UK Blast
A woman looks at the floral tributes and messages left for the victims of the concert blast, during a vigil at St Ann's Square in central Manchester, England, Wednesday, May 24, 2017.   (Danny Lawson)

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 UK, the relative told the AP. "Why was there no outrage for the killing of an Arab and a Muslim in such a cruel way?" she asked. "Rage was the main reason," for the blast that killed 22 at the end of an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena on Monday, she said, speaking by telephone from Libya.

Abedi's relative said the suspected bomber was pained by the killing of Abdel-Wahab Hafidah, an 18-year-old who news reports say was chased by a group of men, run over, and stabbed in the neck in Manchester in May 2016. "They wouldn't let you share bread with them," she said Abedi told her. "They are unjust to the Arabs." The new insight into Abedi's motivation came as Britons faced stepped-up security, authorities pushed forward with raids, and the investigation extended across Europe into Libya, where most of the suspected bomber's family lived. (More Salman Abedi stories.)

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