BUTCHER’S BETRAYAL
Manchester bomber Salman Abedi ‘was rescued by the Royal Navy’ from Libyan warzone three years before he killed 22
THE suicide bomber behind the horrific Manchester Arena attack was rescued by the Royal Navy from war-torn Libya three years before he struck, it's been reported.
The crew on board HMS Enterprise are said to have picked up Salman Abedi from the troubled country's coastline before he was flown back to the safety of Britain.
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younger brother - Hashem - currently in jail in Tripoli awaiting trial over the attack which left 22 dead, was also rescued in the mission.
The paper states the brothers were among around 110 British citizens taken to safety after being caught up in bloodshed.
A Whitehall source said: "For this man to have committed such an atrocity on UK soil after we rescued him from Libya was an act of utter betrayal."
After the 2014 rescue the Abedi brothers were taken by the Navy to the safety of Malta, according to the paper.
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The pair - the British-born sons of Libyan migrants - were then said to have been flown back to their home in Manchester.
It's reported they were on holiday in Libya visiting their family when fighting broke out in their parents' homeland.
British officials then offered to evacuate UK citizens and the Navy was tasked with the job. The brothers were said to be on a list provided to sailors.
However, security insiders told the Mail they believe Salman Abedi had not been radicalised at the time of the rescue operation saying he became brainwashed later after reading terror material on the internet.
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A senior source told the Mail he was not seen as a threat at the time of his rescue.
Bomber Abedi detonated his shrapnel bomb at the end of an Ariana Grande concert on May 22, 2017 - killing 22 and maiming dozens more.
According to evidence presented at inquests, the detonation of the bomb killed people who were up to 20 metres away.
Witnesses told how nuts and bolts were sent flying in the blast as fans made their way to Manchester Victoria train station next door to the concert venue.
The killer student's identity was revealed after teams of armed cops swooped on his address in Fallowfield, Manchester.
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Minutes before setting off his rucksack bomb Salman phoned his nuclear scientist mum Samia and said: "Forgive me", Libyan security forces claim.
After initial suspicions of a terrorist network, police later said they believed Abedi had largely acted alone but that others had been aware of his plans.
The incident was the deadliest terrorist attack and the first suicide bombing in Britain since the 2005 London bombings.
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