Bomber told family he was going to Mecca...but instead went to carry out attack (original) (raw)

Bomber Salman Abedi told his family he was heading on a pilgrimage to Mecca, but instead travelled to Manchester to carry out an horrific attack - according to family friends.

The ‘awkward’ university dropout told his father he would visit Saudi Arabia before heading back to his family in Libya.

But instead he travelled back to Manchester where he used an improvised bomb to target concert-goers at the Manchester Arena .

A respected member of Manchester’s Libyan community told the Manchester Evening News that Abedi had been splitting his time between Manchester and Libya.

His family moved back to the north African country several years ago after the fall of the Gaddafi regime back in 2011.

Mohamed Fadir, a member of Manchester’s well-established Libyan community, said: “I knew of him and I knew his brother.

“There is nothing out of the ordinary about his family. His father used to do the call to prayer at the mosque. His father is a kind gentleman as is his brother, who got married last year and went on honeymoon.

“As for Salman, he was an isolated, reserved guy. Most of his friends were outside of the Libyan community.”

Others who knew Salman Abedi are still struggling to understand how the former Manchester schoolboy with a ‘squeaky voice’ could have turned into a suicide bomber who targeted children at a pop concert.

And as investigators arrested two of Abedi’s brothers - the father of the suspected bomber spoke out to angrily deny that his son was a cold-blooded killer... just hours before he himself was arrested by counter-terror police in Tripoli on suspicion of links to the so-called Islamic State group.

Police in Libya are investigating what - if any - connection the family members may have had with the terrible tragedy at the Manchester Arena.

Within hours of the devastating attack, Salman Abedi had been identified by police as a key suspect. A squad of detectives has been trying to re-trace his steps - and look for any clues that could lead them back to a wider network of terrorists.

One of four children, Abedi was born and brought up in south Manchester and attended a primary school in Moss Side.

As the fast-moving investigation continued, it emerged that the 23-year-old man arrested in Chorlton on Tuesday was Salman’s brother, IT worker Ismael Abedi. Then on Wednesday, police in Libya arrested Salman’s younger brother Hashem Abedi who was arrested on suspicion of Islamic State links.

Less than an hour afterwards, their father Ramadan Abedi was arrested in Tripoli.

Ramadan Abedi, father of Manchester bomb suspect Salman Abedi

Prior to his arrest, Mr Abedi Snr had insisted in an interview: “We don’t believe in killing innocents. This is not us.”

Mr Abedi had reportedly fled to Manchester in 1993 after Gaddafi’s men issued an arrest warrant - and had lived in Manchester where he had quietly raised his family.

Those who knew the Abedis say that there was no indication that their son Salman would follow the path of a suicide bomber.

Abedi was a second year business student at Salford University - who had effectively dropped out of his studies.

The 22-year-old had not been seen on campus for a number of months.

According to family friends, he had been living with his recently-married older brother in Manchester but also regularly visiting his parents in Libya.

Salman Abedi had been a pupil at Burnage High School - a boys-only school with many pupils coming from a diverse population.

There was nothing to distinguish him from other pupils, although one former teacher remembered him as being ‘rude, arrogant and egotistical’.

A Manchester United fan, he was part of a group of peers who regularly played football on Friday nights in south Manchester.

An image of him from 2011 - when Salman was aged around 16 - shows him wearing a casual blue hooded top as he hangs around with friends.

One associate from the time, recalled: “We used to be part of a gang in Rusholme that were made up of Somalis & Libyians.”

(Image: PA)

Before studying at Burnage, Salman is thought to have studied at another secondary school in Trafford between 2006 and 2009.

Pupils there remember him - but were unsure as to why he ended up leaving the school.

One former classmate recalled: “As far as I remember he was a quiet guy who got a fair bit of stick from other students for having a high pitched voice. He was also pretty good at football.”

The M.E.N. spoke to a friend of Salman Abedi’s mother who said she would be ‘devastated’. The woman, a mother from east Manchester who is originally from Libya, said her son had been friends with the suicide bomber.

She confirmed the family had moved back to Libya around five years ago after Gaddafi fell, adding that Salman and his brother stayed to study.

“My son he says, ‘why Salman, why?’ We say ‘why Salman why, why do this?’ They are a good family, very good people, his brother very good. I don’t know why this, and why now, we don’t understand. Why Salman I don’t know - maybe other people. They lived here 23 years and I’m friends with Salman’s mother. Islam is not like this, his actions are against the religion,” she said.

However, concerns had been raised by some about Salman’s attitude.

Several members of the public blew the whistle on Abedi several years ago by reporting him to the anti-terrorism hotline, according BBC News.

An unnamed community worker told the broadcaster two people who knew Abedi at college tipped off police after he made statements “supporting terrorism” and expressing the view that “being a suicide bomber was okay”.

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The calls are thought to have been made five years ago after Abedi left school, the community worker added.

Salman did not regularly worship at the Manchester Islamic Centre in Didsbury - although his brother Ismail Abedi, 23, and their father, who is also known as Abu Ismail, worshipped at the Didsbury mosque.

A spokesman for the Didsbury mosque told the M.E.N: “Salman Abedi had prayed in our mosque, a few of the worshippers knew who he was, but he was not there regularly.

“His brother is a regular worshipper. His father used to visit the mosque regularly but they moved back to Libya about five years ago.

“We know for sure the brother was a regular worshipper but not Salman, though he had attended.

“They were a respectable, well-known family from what I have heard. Other Libyians who knew them have been absolutely shocked as the father is a really good man. Ismail is also a good man.”

Didsbury Mosque (Image: PA)

Salman, however, was a regular visitor to another mosque in Manchester.

Mohamed Fadir, who knew the family through the Libyan community, said the other students at Salford University, where ‘awkward’ Salman studied, did not remember seeing him on campus.

“He was not interested in education,” he said. “My guess would be that his father wanted him to go to university but he dropped out.

“He was quite isolated - one of those people.

“But in the Libyan community, nobody expected him to do something like that. Nobody saw that coming.

“He has been in Libya for the past few years. His father went back after the regime and Salman has been travelling back and forth.

“His father has spoken to community members in Manchester and he is so shocked and angry. Salman when he left Libya told his father he was going to Saudi Arabia to Mecca. His father expected him to be there and then return to Libya. The next thing they saw him on TV. It’s a huge shock to his family.”