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Manchester Arena attack: Police arrest 23-year-old man over suicide bomb attack

The arrest came soon after Theresa May announced police would be given all the resources they need

Andrew Griffin
Tuesday 23 May 2017 12:54 BST
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Manchester attack: What we know so far

A man has been arrested over the terror attack at Manchester Arena.

The 23-year-old man was arrested in south Manchester the morning after the bomb and in relation to the attack, according to Greater Manchester Police.

Theresa May had earlier confirmed that police believed they knew the identity of the suicide bomber, who died at the scene. They have not publicly suggested whether or not the killer was working alone.

The report of the arrest came at the same time as police confirmed that a man had been arrested at the Arndale Centre, amid a bomb scare there. Police suggested that the arrest and the events were not thought to be connected to the night's attacks.

The arrest was announced just moments after Prime Minister Theresa May denounced the "appalling sickening cowardice" of the lone suicide bomber who detonated a homemade device in the foyer of the Manchester Arena just as thousands of young people were leaving a concert by US pop star Ariana Grande.

Declaring that police and security services would be given whatever resources were needed to track down any accomplices of the attacker, Mrs May vowed: "The terrorists will never win and our values, our country and our way of life will always prevail."

Speaking outside Downing Street after chairing a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergency committee, Mrs May said that police and security services believed they knew the identify of the bomber, who died alongside his victims.

She said that he had chosen the time and place of his attack deliberately to cause "maximum carnage and to kill and injure indiscriminately".

Mrs May, who was later travelling to Manchester to speak to police chiefs, paid tributes to emergency workers and members of the public who rushed to help. She said they had shown: "The spirit of Manchester and the spirit of Britain - a spirit that through years of conflict and terrorism has never been broken and will never be broken."

Additional reporting by agencies

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