U.K. tightens security, steps up raids

Libyan says bomber called mom, said ‘forgive me’; leaks stir British disdain

British Transport Police officers patrol a train Thursday in London as a precaution during an increased threat of terrorism.
British Transport Police officers patrol a train Thursday in London as a precaution during an increased threat of terrorism.

MANCHESTER, England -- Britons faced stepped-up security as authorities pushed forward with raids they said were uncovering key evidence, and a trans-Atlantic rift opened Thursday in the aftermath of a deadly concert bombing.

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AP/BEN BIRCHALL

People crowd St. Ann’s Square in Manchester, England, on Thursday for a moment of silence for Monday’s suicide-bomb victims.

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AP/PETER BYRNE

Queen Elizabeth talks to bomb victim Evie Mills, 14, in a visit Thursday to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. “It’s dreadful.Very wicked, to target that sort of thing,” the queen told Evie and her parents.

The investigation of the Manchester Arena attack that killed 22 people extended across Europe and into Libya, where most of the bomber's family lived. Authorities in multiple countries worked to determine if Salman Abedi, who died in the blast, acted alone or with assistance from a sophisticated cell.

After Abedi's mother and three of his siblings were taken in for questioning, a Libyan official told of a final phone call he placed to his mother and brother just before the attack. On that call, he purportedly told his mother: "Forgive me," said Ahmed bin Salem, a spokesman for the Special Deterrent Force.

"He was giving farewell," bin Salem added.

The number of arrests in the U.K. ticked up to eight as British Transport Police agency said armed officers would begin patrols on some trains because of an increased threat of terrorism.

Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said, without elaborating, that searches of suspects' homes brought "very important" clues in the investigation of Monday's bombing at the close of an Ariana Grande concert. But leaks from the investigation were creating a diplomatic mess.

Manchester police at one point stopped sharing investigative information with the U.S. until they are guaranteed an end to media leaks, a British official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

But by late Thursday evening, police said they had resumed intelligence sharing after "fresh assurances."

[INTERACTIVE: Timeline, map of attack]

British Prime Minister Theresa May, arriving at a NATO summit in Brussels, said the countries' partnership on defense and security was built on trust, but "part of that trust is knowing that intelligence can be shared confidently."

May discussed the matter privately with President Donald Trump later in the day. Her spokesman said she told Trump that U.S.-British information sharing was "hugely important" but should be safeguarded.

In a statement issued during meetings in Brussels with leaders of NATO member nations, Trump responded to British indignation by vowing to "get to the bottom of this."

"The leaks of sensitive information pose a grave threat to our national security. I am asking the Department of Justice and other relevant agencies to launch a complete review of this matter, and if appropriate, the culprit should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," he said.

British officials were particularly angry over photos published by The New York Times showing remnants of a blue backpack that may have held the explosive, a 12-volt battery that apparently powered the device and a possible switch in the left hand of the bomber that could have ignited it.

But it wasn't clear that U.S. officials were the source of the images, which the Times defended as "neither graphic nor disrespectful of victims" and consistent with basic reporting "on weapons used in horrific crimes."

"We have strict guidelines on how and in what ways we cover sensitive stories," the paper said. "Our coverage of Monday's heinous attack has been both comprehensive and responsible."

British security services were also upset that Abedi's name apparently was leaked by U.S. officials while police in the U.K. continued withholding it and while raids were underway in Manchester and in Libya. Withholding of the name for longer could have allowed authorities to track down people who may have since gone to ground, officials said.

Hopkins said the leaks "caused much distress for families that are already suffering terribly with their loss."

British police chiefs across the country also have criticized the leaks in a highly unusual statement.

The National Police Chiefs' Council said that "unauthorized disclosure of potential evidence" in the middle of a counterterrorism investigation "undermines our investigations."

On Wednesday morning, Amber Rudd, Britain's home secretary, said the leaks in the U.S. media were "irritating" and should not happen again.

Libya connections

Meanwhile, the investigation into the blast widened.

Authorities chased possible links between Abedi, 22, and militants in Manchester, elsewhere in Europe, and in North Africa and the Middle East. They were exploring potential ties to Abdalraouf Abdallah, a Libyan jailed in the U.K. for terror offenses, and to Raphael Hostey, an Islamic State recruiter killed in Syria.

Abedi's family remained a focus, too, with a brother in England, his father and another brother in Libya among those being detained. Abedi's father purportedly was a member of the al-Qaida-backed Libyan Islamic Fighting group in the 1990s -- a claim he denies.

An emerging portrait of the bomber remained complicated by competing assessments over whether Abedi held views that had sparked concern and attention before the bombing.

Mohammed Fadl, a community leader, said he had heard Abedi's father took his son's passport away over concerns about his ties to alleged extremists and criminals.

"Very few people in the community here were close to him, and therefore Salman's fanaticism wasn't something the community was aware of," he said.

In Libya, bin Salem said Abedi's mother told investigators her son left for the U.K. four days before the attack after spending a month in Libya. Based on the account from a younger brother, investigators think Abedi used the Internet to learn how to make a bomb and "seek victory for the Islamic State," bin Salem said.

The allegations clashed with what Abedi's father said a day earlier in an interview. "We don't believe in killing innocents," Ramadan Abedi said before he was detained in Tripoli.

Around the U.K., many fell silent Thursday for a late-morning minute in tribute to the victims.

In Manchester's St. Ann's Square, where a sea of floral tributes grew by the hour, a crowd sang the hometown band Oasis' song "Don't Look Back in Anger." Queen Elizabeth II visited Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, telling 14-year-old Evie Mills and her parents: "It's dreadful. Very wicked, to target that sort of thing."

Millie Robson, 15, wearing one of Grande's T-shirts, told the queen she had won VIP tickets to the pop star's concert. She recalled leaving the concert when the blast struck and remembered an intense ringing in her ears, but not being entirely aware that she was bleeding badly from her legs.

The teenager credited her father's quick action in picking her up and tying off her wounds to stem the bleeding.

"Compared to other people I'm quite lucky really," she said.

In addition to those killed, 116 people received treatment at Manchester hospitals for wounds from the blast. The National Health Service said 75 people were hospitalized.

Information for this article was contributed by Jill Lawless, Paisley Dodds, Maggie Michael, Gregory Katz, Sylvia Hui, Rob Harris, Frank Jordans, Julie Pace and Matt Sedensky of The Associated Press and by Karla Adam and William Branigin of The Washington Post.

A Section on 05/26/2017

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