Manchester Arena suicide bombing

Bomb

 * Found at the Scene in Manchester: Shrapnel, a Backpack and a Battery - C. J. Chivers, The New York Times, May 24, 2017
 * A possible switch to initiate the explosion, carried in the bomber’s left hand, was also unusual in a suicide device, in that it appears to have contained a small circuit board soldered inside one end.It is not clear from the law enforcement images if the object was a simple plunger switch, or included a timer or a receiver that could be operated remotely via radio signal – or some combination, or something else. Such redundancy, if the object was the switch, could give the bomber or a cell more than one option for deploying the device, and suggest that the bomb was not as simple in design as many terrorist devices, which often are crude and prone to failure or haphazard effect.


 * UK police stop passing Manchester bombing information to US over leaks - The Guardian, May 25, 2017
 * Manchester Bombing At Ariana Grande’s Concert ‘Highly Similar’ To Paris Terrorist Attack - Sounak Mukhopadhyay, Inquisitr, June 4, 2017
 * 'He was no lone wolf': Hunt for ISIS mastermind continues as security insides insist the Manchester bomb was the SAME design as one used in Paris blasts - Mail on Sunday, June 4, 2017
 * ...there was somebody with significant bomb making experience behind Abedi, as there was behind the three suicide bombers who blew themselves up outside the Stade de France in Paris in November 2015. In security jargon, the fingerprints on the Manchester and Paris devices are the same.’

Witness tells of suspicious women

 * Eyewitness Dawn Waddy sat next to suspicious foreign woman before Manchester Arena bombing - Sky News clip - Tony Gosling's Youtube Channel
 * Related Youtube clips of Tony Gosling's coverage

Greater Manchester Police uncover network
May 24: Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said: ''We are carrying out extensive searches at premises across Manchester,... I think it's very clear that this is a network that we are investigating and it continues at pace and there's extensive investigations going on and activity taking place across Greater Manchester.''

May 25: Video: Police Suspect "Terror Network" In Manchester Bombing - CBS News

May 26: ITV News: Police have "got hold of a large part" of the terror network behind the Manchester bombing, police say - including those thought to be "key players". Channel 4 News - They said some of their arrests – eight since Monday – are significant, as are the materials that have been found in their searches. Guardian report from the following morning.

May 27: Joint Threat Analysis Centre downgrades their threat assesment.

May 28: Mark Rowley: We now have 11 men in custody

May 29: Manchester attack probe nets another arrest, 14 now in custody - ABC News Radio
 * Did Manchester bomber work alone? Unlikely, says brother of arrested man - Nazia Parveen and Helen Pidd, The Guardian, May 29, 2020

Counter Terrorist Police change the tone
May 31: Our inquiries show Abedi himself made most of the purchases of the core components and what is becoming apparent is that many of his movements and actions have been carried out alone during the four days from him landing in the country and committing this awful attack,” said Det Ch Supt Russ Jackson, head of the north-west counter-terrorism unit.

June 11: Manchester attack: police to question brother of Salman Abedi - John Halliday, The Guardian
 * Jackson said the police wanted to interview Hashem Abedi after the militia group holding him in Libya said he had confessed to buying bomb-making parts in Britain and knowing that Abedi was planning an attack. The development came as police released the final two of 20 suspects detained in connection with the Ariana Grande concert bombing that killed 22 people and wounded 200 others.

Salman Abedi

 * Salman Ramadan Abedi named by police as Manchester Arena attacker The Guardian May 23, 2017
 * Salman Abedi: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know Heavy.com May 23, 2017
 * Times reports Abedi "known to security services as an associate of Raphael Hostey". Rapper Hostey was prolific IS recruiter from Moss Side


 * Security services missed five opportunities to stop the Manchester bomber - The Telegraph, May 25, 2017
 * Everything we know about Salman Abedi, the Manchester suicide bomber - The Telegraph, May 25, 2017
 * Jihadi family's tentacles of terror: How suicide bomber's Al-Qaeda-obsessed father moved his sons between the UK and Tripoli and into clutches of ISIS - Thomas Burrows and Gareth Davies and Nick Fagge, Mail Online, May 26, 2017
 * Salman Abedi wasn't a lone wolf – he was a known wolf, and the Muslim community tried to warn us about him - Muddassar Ahmed, The Independent, May 27, 2017
 * ''Our Prime Minister was Home Secretary and in charge of MI5 when they were tipped off about Abedi – do the victims’ families have a right to an explanation of why the warnings were not heard?
 * FBI 'warned MI5 in January that Salman Abedi was planning terror attack in UK' The Independent May 28, 2017
 * Manchester Bomber Met With ISIS Unit in Libya, Officials Say Rukmini Callimachi and Eric Schmitt NY Times June 3, 2017
 * Salman Abedi participated in bringing down Muammar Gaddafi - Voltaire Network, June 3, 2018
 * Ramadan Abedi, a former Libyan intelligence official, had been sent back to Libya by the MI6 to participate in the operation on the side of Al-Qaeda. His son, Salman, then aged 16, fought on Libya’s side.
 * REVEALED: UK admits contact with Libyan group linked to Manchester bomber Jamie Merill, MEE, April 5, 2018
 * .. Abedi, 22, the British-born son of exiled Libyan dissident, returned to the north African country in 2011 with his father to fight with factions linked to the former Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), alongside other anti-Gaddafi forces
 * Salman Abedi is reported to have also had contact with jailed IS recruiter Abdalraouf Abdallah, another British-Libyan from Manchester who suffered paralysing injuries while fighting with the 17 February Martyrs Brigade in Libya.


 * A study for the Combating Terrorism Centre at the West Point military institution notes that Abedi built up connections to IS in Sabratha from where the Tunisia attack was staged. Intelligence officials told the New York Times that Abedi met with IS members of the Katibat al-Battar al-Libi faction of IS several times in Sabratha. Mark Curtis: Murder on the beach July 5, 2018
 * The making of a monster: How Manchester boy Salman Abedi became a mass murderer Manchester Evening News September 17, 2017
 * Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi 'had been rescued from Libya by the Royal Navy' and brought back to UK Manchester Evening News July 31, 2018]
 * Manchester Arena inquiry: Salman Abedi 'trained with Islamist militia' - BBC News, December 8, 2020

Abdalraouf Abdallah and Mohammed Abdallah connections

 * The father of suicide bomber Salman Abedi looked after ISIS recruiter Abdalraouf Abdallah when he was shot in Libya, it has been claimed Julian Robinson, Mail Online 26, May 2017
 * Manchester Arena suicide bomber Salman Abedi visited terror convict in prison twice before killing 22 in blast Joe Thomas, Daily Mirror 26 June 2017, 2018
 * Mohammed Abdallah guilty of joining Islamic State - BBC, December 7, 2017
 * Manchester man convicted after travelling to Syria and joining Daesh cps.gov.uk Sentencing remarks for Mohammad Abdalraouf sent £2000 to ISIS cell in Syria via his brother

Ramadan Abedi and Hasmhim Abedi and Ismail Abedi (aka Ben Romdhan)

 * Salman Abedi’s Family: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know Heavy.com May 23, 2017
 * Ismail Abedi: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know - Jessica McBride, Heavy.com, May 24, 2017
 * Was bomber's family in global terror network? Killer returned to UK from Libya days before attack 'is linked to Man in the Hat Brussels bomber', his father 'was part of Al-Qaeda-linked group' and brother 'knew of atrocity and was planning own massacre' Daily Mail May 24, 2018
 * Manchester Bomber, Salman Abedi, Linked to Libyan ISIS – “Libyan Dawn”… Sundance, the conservative treehouse May 24, 2018
 * Jihadi family's tentacles of terror: How suicide bomber's Al-Qaeda-obsessed father moved his sons between the UK and Tripoli and into clutches of ISIS - Thomas Burrows and Gareth Davies and Nick Fagge, Mail Online, May 26, 2017
 * Ramadan Abedi THE MANCHESTER-LIBYA CONNECTION IN FIVE MINUTES - Pepe Escobar, May 27, 2017
 * The Manchester Bombing as Blowback: The latest evidence - Mark Curtis, Nafeez Ahmed, June 3, 2017
 * Abedi’s father Ramadan was a member of Libya’s secret service under Qadafi but fled the regime with his mother in 1991.[9] They went first to Saudi Arabia in 1991 and in 1992 moved to London after applying for asylum.[10] Ramadan Abedi Ramadan was part of the broad network of opponents in the UK who supported Islamist anti-Qadafi aims.[11] After Qadafi was overthrown, the Abedi family moved to Manchester but Ramadan largely settled back in Libya, with the rest of the family coming and going between Tripoli and Manchester.[12]


 * Hashem Abedi, Brother of Manchester Arena Bomber, Found Guilty of 22 Murders - Sputnik, March 17, 2020
 * Brother of Manchester Arena Suicide Bomber Must Spend 55 Years Behind Bars for Killing 22 People - Sputnik, August 20, 2020
 * Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi's brother was found with ISIS propaganda and extremist images almost two years before attack, inquiry hears - Daily Mail, September 20, 2020
 * Mr Weatherby told how Ramadan Abedi’s friends reportedly included Anas al-Libi, a fellow member of the LIFG which was affiliated to al-Qaeda and was said to be behind an attempt to assassinate Libyan president Colonel Gaddafi in the 1990s.


 * Arena bomb detectives still want to speak Salman Abedi's dad about fingerprints found in the car where explosives were stored - John Sheerout, Manchester Evening News, November 6, 2021
 * Where is the father of the Manchester Arena bomber? - Nazia Parveen and Chris Stephen, The Guardian March 18, 2021
 * Manchester Arena bomber’s brother Ismail Abedi told he must give evidence to inquiry - Jane Dalton, The Independent, April 15, 2021
 * Manchester Arena bomber's brother applies for legal protection from prosecution so evidence he gives at public inquiry will not be used against him - Manchester Evening News, May 19, 2021
 * Revealed, the shameless family of the Arena bomber who laugh at the memory of those who died from afar - Manchester Evening News, October 24, 2021
 * Judge issues warrant for the arrest of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi's elder brother after he fled UK before giving evidence to public inquiry - Nick Enoch, Mail Online, November 26, 2021
 * ''...boarded a flight to Istanbul from Manchester Airport at the end of August and has not returned...he was allowed to leave a day after he missed a flight when he was stopped and questioned by police and told them he was going on a three-week break.


 * Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi’s parents ‘are keeping a low profile in Libya’ - BBC Gossip, October 26, 2021
 * Manchester bomber 'probably' fought in Libya, inquiry hears - Simon Hooper, MEE, November 25, 2021

Tunworth?

 * David Shaylor on MI6 Plot to assassinate Colonel Gaddafi - Cryptome, November 11, 2001
 * The story that’s so damaging to the Tories and MI6 that the evidence was suppressed - Tom Coburg, The Canary, June 2, 2017
 * “Spies, Lies and Whistleblowers” — the Gaddafi Plot chapters - Annie Machon, Using our intelligence
 * Cerca 1995: a senior member of the Libyan military intelligence service had walked into the British embassy in Tunis and asked to meet the resident MI6 officer. The Libyan ‘walk-in’ had asked for funds to lead a group of Islamic extremists in an attempted coup, which would involve the assassination of Colonel Gaddafi, the head of the Libyan state. Although the Libyan military intelligence officer led the group, he had said he was not an Islamic extremist himself. The Libyan had a brief MI6 record, which PT16/B thought was enough to confirm that the Libyan did have the access to the régime that he claimed.


 * David Shayler, ‘Tunworth’ and the LIFG - Nick Must,Lobster Magazine, (Winter 2019)

Ramadan Abedi was a member of libyan military intelligence who fled Libya in the early nineties. From at least 1994, he was involved in the Islamic Fighting Group. This roughly fits with details reported of "Tunworth". Annie Machon, however, was subsequently informed by an anonymous security source that an Abdullah Radwan, caught after the attack on Gaddafi was "Tunworth". Conceivably she could have been given a false lead, maybe security services could have preferred people to think that Tunworth was dead. An article for Lobster magazine argues that Tunworth could not have been Ramadan Abedi as the redacted name in the MI6 documents is 15 spaces long, too long for Ramadan Abedi. This is not necessarily convincing, as perhaps, 'Ramadan al-Abedi' could have been used. Whilst Shaylor's public credibility has been diminished in recent times, e.g. citing the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. We cannot conclude on that basis that his claim that Abedi was Tunworth is therefore false. But given that Abedi's age in 2017 was 51, he would've been around 29 years old in 1995 and had been living in the UK for at least two years. Which makes it seem unlikely that he would have been described as as senior intel officer walking into the British embassy in Tunis. What does appear to be the case is that MI6 did work with a former Libyan intel officer high up in the Islamic Fighting Group, in the 1995-6 assassination plot. Also that Ramadan Abedi had been involved in Libyan intel and subsequently was an active member of LIFG sheltered by the UK authorities.--Diagonal (talk) 12:42, 19 December 2021 (UTC)

LIFG base in Manchester

 * The teenage Libyan rebel from Manchester - Jane Deith, Channel 4, June 11, 2011 (Vimeo Clip)
 * ''There are thousands of Libyans in Manchester who hate the Gaddafi regime. The city is home to Britain’s largest Libyan community. Almost every elder you meet fled Libya in the last 20 years, warned that they would be arrested or killed if they stayed, simply for calling for change.
 * How Labour secretly put Libyan dissidents under house arrest at Gaddafi's behest following Blair's 'deal in the desert' - Ian Birrell and Abul Taher, Mail on Sunday, September 11, 2011
 * Father of Manchester Arena suicide bomber 'was a member of al-Qaeda linked militant group' - Roland Oliphant, - The Telegraph, May 24, 2017
 * Rebels living in England claim UK government let them travel to Libya to fight Gaddafi - even though they were subject to counter-terrorism orders - as investigators probe Abedi's visits to Tripoli Gareth Davies Mail Online, 25 May, 2017
 * 'Sorted' by MI5: How UK government sent British-Libyans to fight Gaddafi - Middle East Eye, May 25, 2017
 * ''Fighters say government operated 'open door' policy allowing them to join rebels, as authorities investigate background of Manchester bomber
 * Rebels 'went to Libya with MI5 blessing' amid Abedi probe - Daily Mail, May 25, 2017
 * ''Those who travelled to Libya to fight alongside Islamic rebel groups have described how, even though they were subject to counter-terror orders banning them from leaving their homes because they posed a security threat, they were allowed to travel to the hostile warzone. When they returned to the UK, having spent months alongside groups thought by British intelligence to have links with Al-Qaeda, rebels were said to have been allowed back into the country without hesitation.
 * ''Libyan officials have backed up the claims, saying the British government were 'fully aware' of young men being sent to fight, turning the North African country into an 'exporter of terror'.
 * How the British deep state turned Manchester into al-Qaeda Town UK - Adam Garrie, The Duran, May 25, 2017
 * How Manchester bomber Salman Abedi was radicalised by his links to Libya The Guardian, May 28, 2017
 * UK Mosques Refuse To Provide Funeral Rights For Manchester Bomber - Al Arabiya May 31, 2017
 * Manchester atrocity: UK government must come clean about its relationship with Libyan Islamists (Internet Archive) - Mohamed El Doufani, Shoah, June 6, 2017
 * The making of a monster: How Manchester boy Salman Abedi became a mass murderer - Manchester Evening News September 17, 2017
 * The 2017 Manchester Bombing and the British-Libyan Jihadi Nexus - CST Blog, May 22, 2020
 * Manchester Arena attack: Imam says he has been demonised by inquiry - Simon Hooper, MEE, December 10, 2021

Abdel Hakim Belhaj

 * wikipedia
 * Annie Machon interviewed by George Galloway on MI6 L.I.F.G. and Belhaj rendition
 * Belhaj case: UK ordered to hand over file on Libyan torture Jamie Merrill, Middle East Eye, April 13, 2018


 * REVEALED: UK admits contact with Libyan group linked to Manchester bomber Jamie Merrill, Middle East Eye, April 5, 2018

National security concerns over scheduled inquest

 * Priti Patel calls for Manchester Arena bombing coroner to keep intelligence material secret from public - as families say they fear a cover-up - Daily Mail, September 6, 2019
 * The conclusions which they have reached are emphatic that the information simply cannot be disclosed without jeopardising security.
 * Manchester Evening News

Public inquiry

 * Manchester Evening News coverage


 * Manchester bombing public inquiry to be held partly in secret amid questions over security services ‘failings’ - Jane Dalton, The Independent
 * Manchester Arena bombing inquiry: MI5 did not reopen investigation into Salman Abedi despite his visits to terrorist prisoner - Lizzie Dearden, The Independent,
 * Manchester Arena bomber's brother applies for legal protection from prosecution so evidence he gives at public inquiry will not be used against him - Manchester Evening News, May 19, 2021
 * Manchester Arena bomber's brother Ismail Abedi was stopped by police at airport but left UK the next day to avoid giving evidence, inquiry told - Sky News, October 21, 2021
 * In July he received a summons to attend court on 21 October and was informed that any objection needed to be received by mid-August. When no response came, the inquiry's solicitor emailed Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and asked to be notified as soon as possible if they received any information "to suggest that Ismail Abedi may not comply with the notice; for example, by leaving this jurisdiction".


 * Brother of Manchester Arena bomber was stopped by police at the airport - but managed to board a flight the next day - Manchester Evening News, October 21, 2021
 * A legal notice - requiring him to attend the inquiry - was also presented to Greater Manchester Police (GMP) But the force did not tell inquiry lawyers of Mr Abedi’s departure from the UK until two days after he had left. As such, the inquiry had no chance to use available legal powers to prevent him from leaving the country.


 * MI5 director testifies that at one point Arena bomber was considered as “low or no risk” - Tom Coburg, The Canary,November 7, 2021
 * PDF Draft transcript - Witness J, MI5 testimony (Redacted)

Analysis

 * UK Government Harbored Terrorists Linked to Manchester Blast for Decades - Tony Cartalucci, May 24, 2017
 * Our children in Manchester paid the price of business as usual - Nafeez Ahmed, May 24, 2018
 * Manchester Attack as MI6 Blowback - Voltaire Network, May 25, 2017
 * The west accepted Salafist “refugees” for decades, now it’s paying the price - Andrew Korybko, The Duran, May 25, 2017
 * ''There is no greater structural threat to a secular Muslim-majority country than Salafists, which is why the West welcomed those “fleeing” from the “political and religious repression” in their homelands in order to weaponize them for future Hybrid War use.
 * Details Emerge On The Manchester Blowback From Britain's Terror Support - Moon of Alabama, May 25, 2017
 * The Manchester Bombing is Blowback from the West’s Disastrous Interventions and Covert Proxy Wars - Max Blumenthal, AlterNet, May 25, 2017
 * ''How the US and UK helped bring jihadists like Salem Abedi to Libya and Syria
 * ISIS Terrorist Attack in Manchester? 17 Days Before Crucial UK Elections - Peter Koenig, OffGuardian, May 25, 2017
 * Official account of Manchester suicide bombing unravels - WSWS, May 25, 2018
 * Charles Shoebridge interviewed by RT
 * Manchester’s dead: Victims of British regime-change operations in the Middle East - Robert Stevens, WSWS, May 26, 2017
 * PETER OBORNE: Why MI6 must share the blame for the jihadis in our midst - Peter Oborne, ''Daily Mail, May 27, 2017
 * Manchester Bomber May Have Been Groomed By UK Intelligence Whitney Webb, Mint Press News, May 27, 2017
 * MANCHESTER’S KNOWN WOLF: Watched by MI5 with Ties to NATO-Backed Terror in Libya – What Does It All Mean? Shaun Helton, 21st Century Wire May 28, 2017
 * No Laughing Matter: The Manchester Bomber is the Spawn of Hillary and Barack’s Excellent Libyan Adventure - JIM KAVANAGH, Counterpunch, May 29, 2017
 * Terror in Britain: What Did the Prime Minister Know? - JOHN PILGER, Counterpunch, May 31, 2017
 * Blowback - Manchester and the Libya Connection - MediaLens, June 1, 2018
 * The Manchester Bombing: Blowback from British state collusion with jihadists abroad - Mark Curtis and Nafeez Ahmed, Insurge Intelligence, June 3, 2017
 * MI5/MI6: TERRORISTS OR PUBLIC SERVANTS? Dai Dream, Justice Watch June 4, 2017
 * UK security services knew of Manchester suicide bomber’s ISIS connections Robert Stevens WSWS, June 5, 2017
 * Manchester atrocity: UK government must come clean about its relationship with Libyan Islamists - Mohamed El-Doufani, Shoah, June 6, 2017
 * http://sanitynow.org
 * The Manchester bomber was only able to massacre people because of the mistakes made by the British government Patrick Cockburn, The Independent May 25, 2018
 * Police and MI5 criticised over Manchester and London bombings Ian Cobain MEE November 22, 2018
 * The 2017 Manchester Bombing and the British-Libyan Jihadi Nexus - CST Blog, May 22, 2020
 * Did the UK’s secret Libya policy contribute to the Manchester terror attack? - Peter Obourne, Declassified UK, December 16, 2021
 * Four terrorists who murdered Britons fought in David Cameron’s war in Libya - Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, May 25, 2021
 * Manchester bombing: What are the security agencies hiding? - RICHARD NORTON-TAYLOR, Declassified UK, 4 December 2021

Official report on 2017 UK terrorist attacks

 * PUBLICATION OF DAVID ANDERSON QC’S REPORT ON THE TERRORIST ATTACKS OF MARCH-JUNE 2017 mi5.gov.uk
 * MI5 and Police have together thwarted 22 plots in the last four years, 9 of which have been stopped since March 2017. There are currently well over 500 counter terrorism investigations, involving more than 3,000 subjects of interest – along with a growing pool of more than 20,000 individuals who have previously been the subject of terrorism investigations. These investigations cover the full range of terrorist activity, from attack planning to activity that supports or facilitates terrorism – but a significant proportion involve potential attack planning threats. The tempo is more intense than ever.