He said he immediately suspected the arrest might be linked to the bombing since “somebody told me they were Libyans, or I read it somewhere”.
Advertisement
Suicide bomber Abedi was born in Britain to a Libyan family, grew up in Manchester’s southern suburbs and once attended Salford University there.
A French minister said he may have been radicalised in Syria.
Sixty-four people are still hospitalized, Jon Rouse of the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership said Wednesday.
At least 22 people were killed – one a girl aged just eight – and another 59 were wounded, many seriously.
British officials have not commented on whether Abedi had links to IS or other extremist groups.
Authorities said they believe one man carried out the attack, but were trying to determine whether he was working alone or as part of a network.
Greater Manchester Police arrested three more people in south Manchester Tuesday as they continued their investigation into the bombing.
British Army soldiers are led by a police officer into Buckingham Palace in central London on May 24, 2017.
MANCHESTER, England (AP) – Security forces rounded up more suspects Wednesday in the deadly Manchester concert blast and soldiers fanned out across the country to national landmarks as an on-edge Britain tried to thwart the possibility of additional attacks.
Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins later told reporters it was very clear that they were investigating what he called “a network”. “With so much still unknown, I hope we all resist the temptation to speculate and jump to conclusions”.
It is the first time the threat level has been raised to the critical level in the United Kingdom since 2007, after the deadly attack on London’s Underground train network and buses.
The changing of the guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace was canceled Wednesday so police officers can be re-deployed. Chelsea soccer club canceled their victory parade, which had been scheduled to take place on Sunday to celebrate their Premier League title. On that occasion the level was increased following the July 7 bombings in London which claimed the lives of 52 people.
He said last time he spoke to the 22-year-old Salman was five days ago as he was getting ready for a trip to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah, a smaller pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca.
Next to a photograph of Olivia, Charlotte Campbell wrote on Facebook: “RIP my darling precious gorgeous girl Olivia Campbell taken far far too soon”. Twelve of them were aged under 16. Freya’s father, Nick Lewis, was quoted as saying that his daughter had undergone 10 hours of surgery and was in a stable condition.
“Freya has been sewn, bolted, drilled and bandaged back together”.
Asked whether the US leaks had compromised the investigation, she said: “I wouldn’t go that far but I can say that they are perfectly clear about the situation and that it shouldn’t happen again”.
The troop deployments are part of a longstanding counter-terror plan codenamed Operation Temperer, details of which first emerged in 2015 after being accidentally uploaded to a public website.
British media reports suggested nearly 1,000 troops were being deployed to sensitive sites across the country.
Attacks in cities including Paris, Nice, Brussels, St. Petersburg, Berlin and London have shocked Europeans already anxious over security challenges from mass immigration and pockets of domestic Islamic radicalism.
Advertisement
Earlier on Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said he would seek an extension to the state of emergency until November.
