The parents of Manchester Arena suicide bomber Salman Abedi are wanted for questioning by police over the 2017 atrocity, it has emerged.
The Manchester Arena Inquiry began in September and is hearing evidence about whether opportunities to prevent the bombing were missed.
As a result of a legal ruling made at the inquiry it can now be reported that Abedi’s father, Ramadan Abedi, and his mother, Samia Tabbal, are among six people wanted for questioning by the police. They are both in Libya.
Ramadan Abedi fled Libya in 1993 and applied for asylum on the basis of his life being in danger from General Gaddafi's regime. He claimed political asylum. He was later linked to a Libyan Islamist organisation called LIFG which was a proscribed organisation. #Manchesterbombing
— Total Crime (@totalcrime) September 9, 2020
Salman Abedi, 22, detonated a suicide bomb in his backpack in the foyer of the Manchester Arena just as thousands of people were emerging from a concert by US pop star Ariana Grande.
His younger brother Hashem Abedi helped him to make the bomb and plan the attack but later fled to Libya, before being extradited back to Britain. In August this year Abedi, 22, was locked up for a minimum of 55 years.
Ramadan Abedi is wanted after his fingerprints were found inside a Nissan Micra the brothers had used to store the explosives.
During the Manchester Arena Inquiry it has already emerged that members of the Abedi family have failed to offer any assistance to detectives investigating the blast, which killed 17 women and girls and five men, wounded 264 and left at least 670 other people with devastating psychological scars.
The Abedi brothers drew thousands of pounds out of their mother's account in the months before the attack while they bought tools and chemicals allegedly for making the bomb. A £300 specialist battery like the one used in the bomb was bought with their mother's debit card.
— Daniel Sandford (@BBCDanielS) February 10, 2020
Greater Manchester Police tried to keep secret the names of the six individuals they were seeking to question as part of their investigation but various media organisations and the bereaved families successfully campaigned for the identities to be published.
The inquiry’s chair, Sir John Saunders, said he did not believe publication of the names risked prejudicing any future criminal proceedings.
The other suspects named in the document are Mohammed Soliman and Elyas Elmehdi, who are both believed to be abroad.
GMP also want to talk to Majdi Alamari, who lives in Libya, and Anas Abuhdaima, who is believed to be in the UK, so they can rule them out of their investigation.
