Manchester bomber Salman Abedi may not have acted alone, say police

Detectives also want to speak to Hashem Abedi, who is detained in Libya

Salman Abedi killed 22 people in an attack at Manchester Arena (Handout)

Manchester suicide bomber Salman Abedi did not act alone, police suspect, and detectives want to speak to his brother in Libya, anti-terror officers have said.

Detective Chief Superintendent Russ Jackson, head of the North West Counter Terrorism Unit (NWCTU), said officers were "engaged" with the authorities in war-torn Libya where Salman's brother, Hashem, is currently being held.

Mr Jackson also told reporters that, while detectives do not now think Abedi was part of a large network, they do suspect the involvement of others in the attack which had been planned for months.

And he did not rule out further arrests.

He said: "We don't have evidence of a large network. We do however suspect others were either aware or complicit in the knowledge of this attack."

Abedi killed 22 people when he detonated his bomb in the foyer of Manchester Arena at the end of an Ariana Grande concert on 2 May.

Mr Jackson said he had to be careful not to damage any potential future prosecution as he briefed reporters at the headquarters of Greater Manchester Police.

He continued: "We do believe that there are other people potentially involved in this. We do however believe further arrests are possible.

"We want to to speak to Hashem Abedi and I can now say we are currently engaging with the Crown Prosecution Service and the Libyan authorities.

Hashem Abedi, brother of the Manchester attacker, Salman Abedi, was detained in Tripoli for alleged links to Isis (AFP/Getty Images) (AFP)

"This is a live criminal investigation where central to it are 22 murdered people, with grieving families."

The bomber's younger brother, Hashem, was arrested in Libya shortly after the explosion, along with their father, Ramadan.

The family are originally from Libya, but fled during Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's dictatorship, with the father returning to fight with opposition forces when the uprising began in 2011.

Abedi's older brother, Ismail, was among more than a dozen people held and questioned by police in the UK before being released without charge.

Mr Jackson said Salman Abedi travelled to Libya a number of times and they were investigating how he obtained the skills to make a bomb.

Calls Abedi made, reportedly to his mother and others, on the night of the attack were another "key line of inquiry", Mr Jackson said, but would not be drawn further.

He said no video or note has been found by police left by Abedi to explain his motivation.

Asked where Abedi got the money to live, travel and rent properties around Manchester prior to the attack, Mr Jackson said he had access to student loans and may have also had access to other funds, and that the planning took “many months”.

An ongoing review by security services is under way into what was known about Abedi by the authorities, after claims that he had been reported more than once over his extremist attitude.

Mr Jackson said police are still piecing together details about the bomber's background and beliefs.

He added: “We are still working to understand the manner by which he became radicalised and this is a main part of our inquiry and it is difficult to comment further on that.”

Detectives are also still working out how exactly Abedi got the skills to make his back-pack bomb, but Mr Jackson said such know-how was available both online and in war-torn countries such as Libya and Syria, and the bomb could be entirely home-made.

Abedi's device was described as “substantial” in size, and he had put it inside a tin with the shrapnel, nuts and bolts placed around it but would not say where it was assembled.

“The devastation was huge,” Mr Jackson said, with 22 dead and scores injured, some losing limbs, left paralysed and others disfigured with facial injuries.

“What's clear from going to the scene is just the enormity of it. It was incredibly difficult for the officers at the scene.”

He said after the area was cleared and forensics had completed their work, officers placed roses down next to name plates to show families the spot where their loved ones died on private visits to the scene.

Other officers had to go through mobile phones found in the carnage, finding photos of children on the bloody screens.

Senior detectives are now in the process of visiting each of the families.

Mr Jackson added: “It is my anticipation that at some point more arrests will be made."