Salman Abedi identified as Manchester bomber as Theresa May calls threat warning 'critical'

The suspected suicide bomber who killed 22 people and injured dozens at a concert in Manchester has been identified as an Anglo-Libyan named Salman Abedi.

Twenty-two people have been killed – many of them believed to be young – after a bomb exploded at an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena on Monday night.

It comes after Mrs May announced that the official terror threat level was being raised to the highest critical level.

The Times newspaper reported that the Manchester-born suicide bomber had spent three weeks in the war-torn North African country before the Manchester Arena attack, in which he was killed.

A friend told the newspaper: “He went to Libya three weeks ago and returned recently, a few days ago.”

Who is Salman Abedi?

Born and raised in Manchester, Abedi grew up in a Muslim household – but grew up to become a university dropout with an appetite for bloodshed.

He was recorded as living in Elsmore Road as recently as last year, where police raided a ground floor red brick semi-detached property on Tuesday.

Neighbors remember an abrasive young man, tall and thin, little known in the neighborhood and often seen wearing traditional Islamic clothing.

He is believed to have lived at several addresses in the area, including one in Wilbraham Road, where plainclothes police made an arrest on Tuesday.

Abedi previously lived with his mother Samia Tabbal, his father Ramadan Abedi and a brother, Ismail Abedi, born in Westminster in 1993.

He is said to have a younger brother, Hashim Abedi, and a sister Jomana, whose Facebook profile suggests she is from Tripoli and lives in Manchester.

A family friend, who asked to remain anonymous, said they were known to the town's Libyan community and described Abedi as “normal”.

He said: “He was always friendly, nothing to suggest (he was violent). He was normal, to be honest.

Abedi is said to have attended the Manchester Islamic Centre, also known as the Didsbury Mosque.

Here, he allegedly attracted the attention of an imam whom he looked down on during a sermon denouncing terrorism.

“Salman showed me a face of hatred after that sermon,” Mohammed Saeed told the Guardian of the 2015 meeting.

“He showed me hatred.”

Fawaz Haffar, a businessman and administrator of the mosque, said he was “probably” present there, given that his father used to make the call to prayer and his brother Ismail was present there. as a volunteer until recently.

He said: “I see him (the father) praying but I don’t really know who he is. I sometimes see him lifting the azan, or calling for prayer, but that was a long time ago.

“As far as I know, he returned to Libya when things were much better there, to work there.

“As far as I know, he was pious. He has three sons, one of them is detained, one of them is a suspect and the third, I don't know who he is.

He said the mosque was moderate, modern and liberal and that he was a member of a police-liaison organization, the Independent Advisory Group.

Abedi studied business and management at Salford University two or three years ago, a source said, but he dropped out and did not complete his degree.

The source said Abedi started classes in 2014 and attended classes for two years, but then stopped going.

He would have graduated this summer.

Abedi's visit to his family's homeland fueled concerns that he was preparing for Monday's deadly assault under the leadership of hardened jihadists.

Greater Manchester Police Chief Ian Hopkins said detectives were working to determine whether Abedi was working alone.

He said: “I can confirm that the man suspected of committing last night’s atrocities is Salman Abedi, 22. The priority remains to determine whether he acted alone or in a network.

Isis claimed responsibility for the attack – but this claim has not yet been verified.

Elsmore Road, where Abedi was registered as a resident, became the center of the investigation into Monday's outrage as detectives hunted down those suspected of being behind the blast.

According to the Telegraph, Abedi is the second youngest of four children.

His parents were Libyan refugees who are believed to have come to the UK during Gaddafi's regime.

The newspaper also reports that two of Abedi's three siblings are Hashem, 20, and Jomama, 18.

Abedi grew up in the Whalley Range area, where earlier in the day police could be seen outside a building.

In June 2014 it emerged that twin sisters, schoolgirls Salma and Zahra Halane, also from the Whalley Range area, had fled to join the so-called Islamic State where they married jihadist fighters.

Local residents who live on the semi-detached red brick street have stated that they know little about the person(s) who reside at this address.

A childhood friend of Ismail, who asked to remain anonymous, called Salman “normal” and said his family was known to the city's Libyan community.

He said: “Ismail’s brother was a bit like a normal guy. I never slept with his brother. I know his name is Salman and I say “hello” and talk to him.

“He was always friendly, nothing to suggest (he was violent). He was normal, to be honest.

According to the man, Ismail gives Arabic lessons at a mosque in the area, which his father also visits.

Salman Abedi “probably” attended the Manchester Islamic Centre, also known as the Didsbury Mosque, mosque officials said.

Fawaz Haffar, a businessman and mosque administrator, said he did not know the bomber and did not remember seeing him at the mosque.

Read more: Video shows moment of explosion

But he said he was “probably” present there, given that his father used to perform the azan, the call to prayer in front of 1,000 worshipers, and that his brother was present at the mosque in as a volunteer until recently.

Mr Haffar stressed that the mosque was what he called a moderate, modern and liberal mosque, and that he is a member of a police liaison organization, the Independent Advisory Group.

Besieged by journalists at the mosque, Mr. Haffar said it was likely that Salman Abedi had gone to the mosque.

He said: “He probably did it, I never saw him, I don't know him, as an administrator I can only say what I saw. Maybe it's true, maybe it's not.

Vigil interrupted

A candlelight vigil in Birmingham in memory of those killed in the Manchester Arena bombing was disrupted after a man was arrested on suspicion of being armed nearby.

The man shouted as he was handcuffed and led away by West Midlands Police officers, a short distance from where 1,000 people had gathered in the city's main square, Victoria Square.

As he was taken in a riot van down Edmund Street, which runs behind Birmingham City Council, a police sergeant could be seen taking away what appeared to be a bat and a hatchet.

Speakers paying tribute to the Manchester victims were interrupted by loud protests from the man, coming from a side street.

Details about the victims also began to emerge.

An eight-year-old girl and a student were among the first to be named.

Eight-year-old Saffie Roussos, killed in the attack, was described by the headteacher of her Preston school as a “beautiful little girl”.

Another victim was named by her university as Georgina Callander, who was studying health and social care at Runshaw College in Leyland, Lancashire.

Earlier, Theresa May condemned the “appalling and sickening cowardice” of the single suicide bomber who detonated a homemade device in the lobby of the Manchester Arena just as thousands of young people were leaving a concert by American pop star Ariana Grande.

Declaring that police and security services would have all the necessary resources to track down the attacker's accomplices, Mrs May vowed: “The terrorists will never win and our values, our country and our way of life will always prevail.”

Greater Manchester Police said in a statement: “In relation to the ongoing investigation into last night's horrific attack at Manchester Arena, we can confirm that we have arrested a 23-year-old man in South of Manchester.”

The working theory is that the attacker who triggered the explosion – that killed 22 people and injured 59 others outside the Manchester Arena – was working alone.

However, the National Police Counter-Terrorism Network, assisted by MI5, is urgently reconstructing his background to see if he had any help in planning the attack.

They will seek to chart the attacker's movements over recent weeks and months as well as immediately before the attack.

Read more about the Manchester terror attack:

Video shows the moment concert goers flee in terror

Eyewitnesses: “There was carnage”

The first victims are named Georgina Callander

Mom collapses during desperate call to find daughter

Manchester residents open their homes to help those affected

Sick ISIS supporters celebrate bombing