UK investigates 'network' of alleged concert attackers; suspected bomber's father, brothers arrested

British police officers stand watch Tuesday at Albert Square in Manchester during a vigil for the victims of a suicide bomb attack at a concert Monday.
British police officers stand watch Tuesday at Albert Square in Manchester during a vigil for the victims of a suicide bomb attack at a concert Monday.

MANCHESTER, England — Security forces rounded up more suspects Wednesday in the deadly Manchester concert blast and soldiers fanned out across the country to national landmarks as Britain tried to thwart the possibility of additional attacks.

Officials scoured the background of the British-born ethnic Libyan identified as the bomber, saying he was likely part of a wider terrorist network. Additional arrests were made both in Britain and in Libya in the bombing that killed 22 people and wounded scores more. Among those taken into custody in Libya were the suspected bomber's father and his younger brother, the latter of whom confessed to knowing "all the details" of the attack plot, Libyan anti-terror authorities said.

"I think it's very clear this is a network we are investigating," said Chief Constable Ian Hopkins of the Manchester Police, as authorities raided British properties thought to be connected to Salman Abedi, the 22-year-old suspected bomber who grew up in Manchester and died in the attack.

British Home Secretary Amber Rudd said Abedi "likely" did not act alone in the strike at the close of an Ariana Grande concert Monday night and that he had been known to security forces "up to a point." Meanwhile, officials probed possible travel by the alleged bomber, looking for clues to new threats.

Government officials said nearly 1,000 soldiers were deployed to Buckingham Palace, Parliament and other high-profile sites across the country. Britain's terror threat level was raised to "critical" — the highest level — on Tuesday over concern another attack could be imminent.

French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said Abedi was believed to have traveled to Syria and had "proven" links to the Islamic State group, which claimed responsibility for the attack. British officials, however, have not commented on whether Abedi had links to the Islamic State or other extremist groups.

British authorities were probing whether Abedi had ties to other cells across Europe and North Africa, according to two officials familiar with the case who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the ongoing investigation.

They said one thread of the inquiry involved pursuing whether Abedi could have been part of a larger terror cell that included Mohamed Abrini, otherwise known as "the man in the hat," with connections to the Brussels and Paris attacks. Abrini visited Manchester in 2015.

Five additional arrests were made in Britain on Wednesday as the sprawling investigation extended to Libya, where Abedi's father and 18-year-old brother were detained in Tripoli. The father, Ramadan Abedi, denied his son had links to militants in an interview with The Associated Press before he was taken into custody, saying, "We don't believe in killing innocents."

The elder Abedi was allegedly a member of the al-Qaida-backed Libyan Islamic Fighting group in the 1990s, according to a former Libyan security official, Abdel-Basit Haroun. The Libyan anti-terror force that arrested the men said in a statement that the brother, Hashim Abedi, confessed he and his brother were linked to the Islamic State group and that he was aware of the arena bombing plan. It said the father had not been charged but was taken in for questioning.

A second brother, Ismail Abedi, 23, was taken into custody in Manchester a day earlier.

The suspected bomber grew up in Manchester's southern suburbs and once attended Salford University there. Neighbors recalled him as tall, thin and quiet, and said he often wore traditional Islamic dress. Among investigators' areas of interest is how often Abedi traveled to Libya, which has seen an eruption of armed Islamist groups since dictator Moammar Gadhafi was overthrown and killed in 2011.

Before his arrest, Abedi's father said he had last spoken to his son five days ago and he sounded "normal." He said his son was getting ready to visit Saudi Arabia for a short Umrah pilgrimage then planned to head to Libya to spend the Islamic holy month of Ramadan with his family. He said his son last visited Libya about six weeks ago and had never gone to Syria. He denied ties to any militant groups or suggestions of extremism.

"We aren't the ones who blow up ourselves among innocents," he said. "We go to mosques. We recite Quran, but not that."

Read Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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