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Brother of Manchester Arena bomber 'will not be returned to UK' Extradition of Manchester bomber's brother being processed by Libya
(about 4 hours later)
The younger brother of the Manchester Arena suicide bomber will not be returned to the UK by the armed militia holding him in Libya, a spokesman for the group has said. Libyan authorities are processing a request from Britain to extradite the brother of the bomber who killed 22 people in Manchester in May, but no decision has been taken yet, according to a government spokesman.
British police issued a warrant for the arrest of Hashem Abedi, whose brother Salman killed 22 people at the end of an Ariane Grande show. The armed group holding Hashem Abedi said that if the attorney general’s office agreed to the request, the force would be “ready for the next step”.
Anti-terrorism chiefs said an extradition request to bring Hashem Abedi back to the UK was handed to authorities in Libya on Wednesday. Salman Abedi, a 22-year-old Briton born to Libyan parents, blew himself up at the end of a show by American singer Ariana Grande in the deadliest militant attack in Britain for 12 years. His victims included seven children and more than 500 people were injured.
“We will not extradite Hashem Abedi to UK authorities,” Ahmad Ben Salim, spokesman for the Deterrence Force (Rada), a counter-terrorism group allied to the UN-backed government in Tripoli, told Reuters. On Wednesday, British police said they had issued an arrest warrant for his brother for murder, attempted murder and conspiracy to cause an explosion, and that prosecutors had asked Libya to extradite him.
Both brothers travelled to Libya in April, then Salman returned alone before carrying out the suicide attack on 22 May. “An official request has been received through the Libyan ministry of foreign affairs and the Libyan authorities are cooperating to process (the request) in accordance with Libyan legal procedures,” said Hassan al-Houni, a spokesman for the internationally recognised government in Tripoli. “No decision has been taken yet.”
Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson, of Greater Manchester police, head of the North West Counter Terrorism Unit (NWCTU), told reporters on Wednesday that officers had been granted a warrant for the arrest of Hashem Abedi for the murder of 22 people, the attempted murder of others who were injured and conspiracy to cause an explosion. Days after the attack, the Special Deterrence Force (Rada), a counter-terrorism and anti-crime group aligned with the government, arrested Hashem Abedi and the brothers’ father Ramadan. The father was released in August.
He said a request for extradition had been approved by the home secretary and handed to authorities in Libya, adding: “We are grateful for the Libyan authorities considering this request.” Various armed factions in Tripoli have aligned themselves with the government, some with semi-official status for law enforcement. However, the government, which struggles to impose its authority, has limited power over them. Rada initially said it would not extradite Hashem, but then said it was ready to cooperate.
The Abedi family, originally from Libya, fled during the Gaddafi dictatorship with the father returning to fight with opposition forces when the uprising began in 2011. “If there is agreement between the attorney general and the British authorities, we are ready for the next step,” spokesman Ahmad Ben Salim said.
An extradition agreement between the UK and Libya was agreed in 2009 but since the overthrow of Gaddafi the country has been split into warring factions, with the UN-backed, internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) struggling to assert control over swaths of the country in the hands of dozens of different militias including Islamic State-affiliated groups. The Libyan attorney general’s office could not be reached for comment.
Police have previously said they do not think Salman Abedi was part of a wider network but they believe others were involved in the planning of the attack and named Hashem as a suspect. Islamic State said it was responsible in the immediate aftermath of the bombing but security services have always treated the claim with scepticism. In June, Rada said Hashem Abedi had told them his brother had been radicalised in Britain in 2015.
The bomb, described as “substantial” in size, was placed in a tin with nuts and bolts around it. Abedi detonated the device at the end of the concert with 353 people, including 175 children, around him in the foyer of the arena venue. They had both flown from Britain to Libya in April and Hashem said he had helped buy the equipment necessary for the attack although he had not known that Salman was planning a bombing, Rada said.
As well as the 22 dead, 16 people were very seriously injured including paralysis, loss of limbs, internal injuries, and serious facial injuries involving complicated plastic surgery. Two people remain in hospital. British police say Salman Abedi returned to Manchester on May 18, four days before his attack. The family had emigrated to Britain during the rule of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The brothers’ parents returned to Libya during the 2011 revolution.
In all, 512 people were either physically injured or left “profoundly traumatised”, Jackson said, with 112 treated in hospital. Police have previously said they believed Salman Abedi had built the bomb himself and CCTV showed him buying nuts from a hardware store that were used as shrapnel as well as the tin that was believed to contain the explosives.
Ben Wallace, security minister, said on Wednesday that the government would “do everything in our power” to bring those responsible to justice in the UK courts.
Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, said it was “imperative” that any trial related to the Manchester Arena attack takes place in the UK.
A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester police said: “We have engaged with the Libyan authorities and are grateful for them considering the request. It is not appropriate for us to comment further and we must respect the Libyan due process.”