Manchester Arena explosion: Brother of suicide bomber Salman Abedi arrested in Libya 'was planning Tripoli attack'

The bother of Manchester suicide bomber Salman Abedi (pictured) has been arrested
Fiona Simpson24 May 2017

The brother of suicide bomber Salman Abedi who killed 22 people when he launched an attack at an Ariana Grande gig in Manchester has been arrested amid reports he was "planning a terror attack in the Libyan capital".

Hashem Abedi has been detained by police in Tripoli on suspicion of links with the Islamic State, Reuters reported.

Counter-terrorism forces said he was "planning a terrorist act" in Tripoli, according to the news agency.

A spokesman for the area’s local counter-terrorism force Rada, arrested the attacker’s brother, who was born in 1997, on Tuesday, spokesman Ahmed Bin Salem told reporters.

The arrest comes just hours after the pair’s father Ramadan Abedi told the Associated Press that another son Ismail had been arrested in the UK.

The father of Manchester suicide bomber Salman Abedi has said his son is innocent

Salman Abedi detonated a device among a crowd of people as they left the 21,000 capacity venue on Monday.

Others included teenagers Olivia Campbell, Sorrell Leczkowski, Georgina Callander and Nell Jones.

Parents waiting to collect children from the gig also died in the blast.

Manchester Arena Terror Attack: Victims

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Police confirmed on Tuesday that the 22-year-old was behind the atrocity.

He denied his Salman was even linked to militants or the suicide bombing.

He said that his son visited Libya a month and a half ago and was preparing to get ready to go to Saudi Arabia.

The elder Abedi told the Associated Press by telephone from the Libyan capital of Tripoli: "We don't believe in killing innocents. This is not us."

On Tuesday night Theresa May announced that the UK’s terror threat has been raised to critical, meaning another attack may be imminent.

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