Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi’s dad ‘made Facebook posts praising militant extremist groups’
THE father of ruthless suicide bomber Salman Abedi praised militants aligned to the terror group al-Qaeda in a series of shocking social media posts, it's been reported.
He even bragged his youngest son Hashem - now in custody as a suspected ISIS militant - was in “training” by showing a photo of him wielding a massive machine gun.
On Monday night, his son Salman, 22, blew himself up at a pop concert at Manchester Arena killing 22 - many of them young children.
Under the name Yousef Hannaa on Facebook, Ramadan Abedi wrote about al-Qaeda. “[May they be] victorious against the infidels.”
Ramadan, now in custody in Tripoli, was reportedly a veteran of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) that fought the Soviets alongside Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
In later years he is said to have staged rebellious "operations" against the late Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi, .
Before his arrest this week he insisted he was no longer a member of the LIFG but admitted he still supported the group.
He said: “I am not part of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group but I commend them.”
Posts on his Facebook page show his ties to Manchester and his employment by Tripoli’s notorious Central Security Directorate.
The Special Deterrence Force (SDF), a Libyan militia that has emerged as the most powerful security formation in Tripoli, arrested Abedi near his central Tripoli home after he gave a television interview absolving his son of guilt in the Manchester attack.
He said he had spoken to his son several days before the attack.
“He didn’t say he was going to Manchester,” he claimed.
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“Salman said he was going to [pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia]. He was studying in college in south Manchester, and he didn’t have any problems. He had high marks.”
The SDF is currently holding both Ramadan and UK-born Hashem, 20, who they claim had been under surveillance for suspected ISIS ties.
They revealed they had been watching him for 45 days as he was allegedly “planning to carry out a terrorist act inside the capital Tripoli."
A SDF spokesman told BuzzFeed News interrogations of both suspects were ongoing.
Salman's mother and two sisters, both in Tripoli, were also summoned for questioning at the force's headquarters in Tripoli's Mitiga Airport but allowed to return home afterwards.
In a posting on Facebook, the force said Hashem was arrested with £1,500 cash he allegedly received from Salman and confessed that he was affiliated with ISIS and played a role in carrying out the concert attack.
“He confessed to being in the UK while the terrorist operation was being planned,” the statement said. “And it is clear that he was fully aware of all the details of the terrorist operation. It is also important to note that Hashem left the UK on April 16, 2017, and said he was in constant contact with his brother the executor of the operation.”