Suspected Manchester Bomber Salman Abedi Was Devout And Withdrawn

Salman Abedi was born in Manchester in 1994 to parents of Libyan origin.

Abedi is reported to have recently returned from Libya, after having gone there over three weeks ago. (Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Jayda Fransen)

The suspected suicide bomber who killed 22 people at a concert in Manchester, northern England, on Monday, has been identified as 22-year-old Salman Abedi, British police said.

Abedi was born in Manchester in 1994 to parents of Libyan birth, US security officials said, citing British intelligence officials.

His parents migrated from Libya to London before moving to the Fallowfield area of south Manchester, where they have lived for at least 10 years, the officials said.

Our priority, along with the police counter-terrorism network and our security partners, is to continue to establish whether he was acting alone or working as part of a wider network. 

Ian Hopkins, Manchester Police Chief Constable

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Abedi had a sister named Jomana Abedi, US security officials said. Abedi is the second youngest of the four children, Telegraph reported.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that the entire family, except the two eldest sons returned to Libya. Abedi is reported to have returned from Libya after having visited the country a little over three weeks ago.

Neighbours told Telegraph that Abedi was an introvert and that he was a devout Muslim who respected his elders. The imam at the Didsbury mosque, which Abedi frequented, told Telegraph that he had displayed displayed radical tendencies during the prayer sermons, where the imam had decried the Islamic State. He said:

Salman showed me the face of hate after my speech on Isis. He used to show me the face of hate and I could tell this person does not like me. It’s not a surprise to me.

Abedi grew up in a tight-knit Libyan community which was vociferous in its opposition to the Muammar Gaddafi regime. Abedi’s residence in Whalley Range is reportedly close to where a group of Gaddafi dissenters and members of the banned Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) operated. In fact, it is believed that Abedi’s parents moved back to their homeland, following Gaddafi’s overthrow.

A 23-year-old man arrested by police in a separate move in south Manchester in connection with the attack on Tuesday was believed to be Abedi's brother, news reports said. Abedi’s older brother Ismail has been a tutor at Didsbury mosque’s Koran school.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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