Britain convicts brother of Manchester Arena bomber of murder

Britain convicts brother of Manchester Arena bomber of murder

Conviction
London, March 17, 2020 (dpa/NAN) A British court on Tuesday convicted the younger brother of the main suspect in the 2017 terrorist attack at Manchester Arena of 22 counts of murder, following his extradition from Libya.

Prosecutors said Hashem Abedi, 22, was in Libya at the time of the attack; however, he became the first suspect to be extradited from the country to Britain in July.

“The brothers bought a car two days before flying to Libya, using it to store bomb-making equipment until the main suspect, Salman Abedi, returned to Britain shortly before the attack,’’ the Crown Prosecution Service said.

Salman Abedi died after detonating explosives in his luggage in a foyer at the arena, killing 22 people and injuring hundreds after a performance by U.S. singer Ariana Grande.

Police said they believed he was part of a terrorist network.

“My thoughts are with the families of those who died and the hundreds of survivors,’’ Max Hill, the director of public prosecutions, said following Tuesday’s conviction.

“I hope the conviction gives them a sense that some justice has been done.

“Hashem Abedi encouraged and helped his brother, knowing that Salman Abedi planned to commit an atrocity.

“He has blood on his hands even if he didn’t detonate the bomb,’’ Hill said.

According to earlier British media reports, the parents of the Manchester-born Abedi brothers were given asylum in Britain after they fled the regime of former Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi. (dpa/NAN)

ACO/AFA
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Edited by Abiodun Oluleye/Felix Ajide