By Libya Herald reporters.
Tripoli and Tunis, 24 May 2017:
The brother and father of Sulaiman Abedi, identified as the suicide bomber who killed 22 people in the northern British city of Manchester two days ago, are reported have been detained in Tripoli.
Hashem Abedi, the 20-year-old brother of the alleged bomber, was arrested in Tripoli by members of the Rada Special Deterrence Force yesterday evening. Rada said that Hashem had been under observation for over a month.
It put out a statement saying that Hashem had confessed that both he and his brother Sulaiman were members of the so-called Islamic State (IS). He allegedly also admitted that he had known the details of the Manchester bombing and said that he had been in constant contact with his brother.
Rada added that Hashem had left Britain for Libya on 16 April this year. It also claimed he was planning a terrorist attack in Tripoli and at the time of his arrest had been withdrawing from a bank LD 4,500 sent by his brother in the UK.
Ramadan Abedi, the father, who is alleged to have been a former member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, has also been seized by masked gunmen.
It is unclear, though, if they too were from Rada. Reports suggest he was giving phone interviews at his Tripoli home when he was detained. At some point today Ramadan had told AP that his son was innocent.
“We don’t believe in killing innocents. This is not us” he said. He also confirmed that British police had arrested his third and eldest son Ismail in Manchester.
This is understood to be the second time Hashem Abedi has been detained by Rada. The first occasion was in a round-up alleged Benghazi Revolutionary Shura Council sympathisers.
