At the Washington Post, "
Manchester bombing probe seeks ‘network’ of suspects as Britain tightens security":
MANCHESTER, England — The police chief leading the investigation into a suicide bombing that killed 22 people at a Manchester concert said Wednesday that the attacker had not acted alone and authorities were trying to unravel a wider web of plotters.
“It’s very clear that this is a network we are investigating,” said Greater Manchester Chief Constable Ian Hopkins.
The comments — which came as British troops fanned out across London at prominent sites such as 10 Downing Street and Buckingham Palace — confirmed what other senior British officials have hinted. It also offered further insights into Britain’s decision to raise the nation’s threat level to its highest point.
Hopkins said British police had taken at least five people into custody in connection with the attack since Monday night.
Raids continued Wednesday in Britain, including one in the heart of Manchester — not far from the concert venue where Salman Abedi carried out the blast that claimed victims as young as 8 years old.
Hours after Hopkins spoke, police said a person was arrested in Wigan, about 20 miles west of the city.
Among those detained in Britain was Abedi’s older brother, Ismail. Meanwhile, the Reuters news agency reported that Salman’s younger brother Hashem was also arrested by authorities in Libya.
The bomber Abedi was a British-born citizen whose parents emigrated from Libya.
Britain’s domestic security chief, Home Secretary Amber Rudd, said did not provide details on possible associates of the 22-year-old Abedi.
But she told the BBC that security services — which had been aware of Abedi “up to a point” before the bombing — were focusing on his visits to Libya, at least one of which was very recent.
Rudd’s French counterpart, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb, told broadcaster BFMTV that Abedi may have also gone to Syria and had “proven” links with the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the Manchester blast and called Abedi a “soldier.”
Abedi’s father, Ramadan Abedi, said his son sounded “normal” when they last spoke five days ago. The elder Abedi told the Associated Press by telephone from Tripoli, Libya, that his son planned to visit Saudi Arabia and then spend the Islamic holy month of Ramadan with family in Libya.
“We don’t believe in killing innocents,” he told the AP. “This is not us.”
The local mosque where Abedi’s family worshiped — and where Ramadan Abedi had once worked, issuing the call to prayer — denounced the attack. Mosque officials also denied reporters that the bomber had worked there.
“The horrific atrocity that occurred in Manchester on Monday night has shocked us all,” said Fawzi Haffar, a trustee with the Manchester Islamic Center, which is also known as the Didsbury Mosque. “This act of cowardice has no place in our religion, or any other religion.”
Abedi was reported Wednesday to have been a college dropout who had recently become radicalized. Security experts said it was unlikely that he coordinated the attack, and the BBC reported he may have been “a mule” tasked with carrying out the bombing, but who had little role in creating the explosive or choosing the target.
Of particular concern to British investigators was the possibility that the bomb-maker was still at-large, and may be planning to strike again.
On Tuesday night, British Prime Minister Theresa May took Britain’s alert level from “severe” to its highest rating, “critical.” The decision, she said, was “a proportionate and sensible response to the threat that our security experts judge we face.”
The impact was quick and visible.
In London, nearly 1,000 soldiers were deployed onto the streets to help free up police. Soldiers were seen at prominent locations including Downing Street and Buckingham Palace...
Still
more.
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