Posted: Tue May 23, 2017 7:28 am Post subject: Mon22May MANCHESTER 'Salman Abedi suicide bombing', 22 dead
Suicide bomber, but no evidence of bomber presented, just police word.
'If you have any photos or video footage upload them to - UK police image com' emergency number 0800789321
Cobra committee doesn't decide anything, just used to inform the politicians
Timing:
May in serious electoral trouble made u-turn speech yesterday
Jo Cox murder about 2 weeks before Brexit referendum
Pushes UK foreign policy towards Pentagon/Israeli Middle East war agenda
Steers general election campaign toward traditionally strong Tory security issues
Soft target, absolutely no point in suicide bomber losing life
Some saying it was a speaker that exploded
During the 'Dangerous Woman' song
No security on the foyer
Others that an explosion next to the merchandise stall in the lobby (Emma)
Suicide bombers away! http://www.911forum.org.uk/board/download.php?id=2007
Ariana Grande 'broken' after terror attack leaves at least 22 dead
Children among 22 dead in Manchester suicide bombing
A lone male suicide bomber was behind the terror attack that killed more than 20 people during an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena, police have said.
Police raised the death toll to 22 and said children were among those killed.
A total of 59 people were left injured in the blast.
Greater Manchester Police chief constable Ian Hopkins, confirmed the attack was carried out by one man although at this stage police do not know if the bomber "acted alone or was part of a wider network".
He said the attacker, who died at the scene, was carrying an improvised explosive device which he detonated.
Mr Hopkins said: "This has been the most horrific incident we have had to face in Greater Manchester and one that we all hoped we would never see.
"Families and many young people were out to enjoy a concert at the Manchester Arena and have lost their lives.
"Our thoughts are with those 22 victims that we now know have died, the 59 people who have been injured and their loved ones.
The only response to terror is to carry on precisely as before
"We continue to do all we can to support them."
Witnesses reported hearing a "huge bomb-like bang" at around 10.30pm on Monday, as fans were leaving the arena shortly after a show by Ariana Grande finished, and described glass and metal nuts on the floor.
Some witnesses described seeing smoke and smelling burning in the foyer area of the arena.
The Prime Minister has condemned the "appalling" incident and General Election campaigning has been suspended.
A Government's emergency Cobra committee is expected to take place at around 9am on Tuesday morning chaired by Theresa May, Downing Street said.
The attack is the worst carried out in the UK since 56 people were killed in the 7 July London bombings in 2005.
Victims of the explosion are being treated at eight hospitals across the city of Manchester.
The Manchester attack comes after four people died in March following an attack on Westminster in London, which targeted the houses of parliament.
MOST POPULAR
Manchester explosion: 22 dead, 59 injured after Ariana Grande concert
Police confirm 'fatalities' after reported blast in Manchester
Manchester Arena eyewitnesses talk of explosions
Video shows screaming crowd flee Ariana Grande concert
Donald Trump drops out of Saudi Arabia event due to 'exhaustion' _________________ --
'Suppression of truth, human spirit and the holy chord of justice never works long-term. Something the suppressors never get.' David Southwell
http://aangirfan.blogspot.com http://aanirfan.blogspot.com
Martin Van Creveld: Let me quote General Moshe Dayan: "Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother."
Martin Van Creveld: I'll quote Henry Kissinger: "In campaigns like this the antiterror forces lose, because they don't win, and the rebels win by not losing."
Last edited by Whitehall_Bin_Men on Sun Jun 24, 2018 12:58 pm; edited 1 time in total
ISIS fans have been celebrating the Manchester Arena terrorist attacks online
One video purports to show ISIS supporter praising Manchester terror attack
One Twitter account posted a threat to Manchester four hours before the blast
ISIS has since claimed responsibility for worst terror attack on UK soil since 7/7
22 people have been killed and almost 60 wounded during the terrorist attack
Twitter has refused to explain why a tweet which appeared to predict the Manchester Arena terror attack was not flagged up and passed to police.
Terrifyingly, two tweets appeared to predict the suicide bomb attack which killed 22 and wounded 119 others.
'Are you forget our threat? This is the just terror,' read one post at 6.32pm yesterday, hours before a nail and ball bearing explosive tore through the lobby of the venue where Ariana Grande was performing. _________________ --
'Suppression of truth, human spirit and the holy chord of justice never works long-term. Something the suppressors never get.' David Southwell
http://aangirfan.blogspot.com http://aanirfan.blogspot.com
Martin Van Creveld: Let me quote General Moshe Dayan: "Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother."
Martin Van Creveld: I'll quote Henry Kissinger: "In campaigns like this the antiterror forces lose, because they don't win, and the rebels win by not losing."
The original source of the IS claiming responsibility would be nice though. _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
On Monday February 27th, 2012, WikiLeaks began publishing The Global Intelligence Files, over five million e-mails from the Texas headquartered "global intelligence" company Stratfor. The e-mails date between July 2004 and late December 2011. They reveal the inner workings of a company that fronts as an intelligence publisher, but provides confidential intelligence services to large corporations, such as Bhopal's Dow Chemical Co., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and government agencies, including the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Marines and the US Defence Intelligence Agency. The emails show Stratfor's web of informers, pay-off structure, payment laundering techniques and psychological methods.
Quote:
RE: S weekly for comment: Dissecting the Manchester Plot
Released on 2013-02-21 00:00 GMT
Email-ID 949294
Date 2009-04-22 13:41:32
From scott.stewart@stratfor.com
To analysts@stratfor.com
RE: S weekly for comment: Dissecting the Manchester Plot
From: analysts-bounces@stratfor.com [mailto:analysts-bounces@stratfor.com]
On Behalf Of scott stewart
Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 2:41 PM
To: 'Analyst List'
Subject: S weekly for comment: Dissecting the Manchester Plot
Dissecting the Manchester Plot
On April 8, 2009, British authorities mounted a series of raids in
Merseyside, Manchester and Lancashire that resulted in the arrest of 12
men suspected of being involved in a plot to conduct attacks over the
Easter holiday weekend. In a press conference the following day, Prime
Minister Gordon Brown noted that the men arrested were allegedly involved
in *a very big terrorist plot.* British authorities have alleged that
those arrested sought to conduct suicide bombing attacks against a list of
soft targets that included shopping centers, a train station and a
nightclub.
The investigation into the plot, which was dubbed Operation Pathway, had
to be accelerated after Bob Quick, the Assistant Commissioner of the
Metropolitan Police in charge of terrorism investigations, inadvertently
allowed reporters to see a classified document pertaining to the operation
as he was entering 10 Downing Street to brief Prime Minister Brown and
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith on April 8. An embarrassed Quick resigned on
April 9, over the gaff.
In spite of the leak, the operation appears to have been successful in
detaining all of the targeted suspects, though the authorities have
reportedly not been able to recover explosive material or other bomb
making evidence they were seeking. British authorities arrested 12
suspects, 11 of whom were Pakistani citizens. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith
told British Parliament on April 20 that all 11 of the Pakistani nationals
entered the UK on student visas. The youngest of the Pakistani suspects,
who is reportedly still a teenager, was remanded to the custody of British
immigration authorities to face deportation proceedings.
The specific details of the plot have not yet come out, and due to the
sensitive nature of the intelligence sources and methods involved in these
types of investigations, more details may not come out until the trial --
if there is one. However, when viewed in the historical and tactical
context of other terror plots and attacks (in the UK and elsewhere), there
are some very interesting conclusions that can be drawn from the facts
that have been released to the public so far.
Targets
Among of the most significant things that have come to light so far
regarding the thwarted plot are the alleged targets. According to press
reports, the British MI-5 surveillance teams assigned to monitor the
activities of the purported plotters observed some of them videotaping
themselves outside of the Arndale and Trafford shopping centers in
Manchester, as well as at St. Ann*s Square, which lies in the center of
Manchester*s main shopping district. Other reports suggest that the
plotters had also conducted surveillance of the Manchester*s Piccadilly
train station, an inter-city train station that is one of the busiest in
the UK outside of London, and Manchester*s Birdcage nightclub.
These targets are significant for several reasons. First, they are all
soft targets, that is targets with very little security. As STRATFOR has
[link
http://www.stratfor.com/new_terrorist_trend_less_bang_more_destruction ]
pointed out for several years now, since counterterrorism efforts have
been stepped up in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, and as the tactical
capability of groups like al Qaeda has been [link
http://www.stratfor.com/al_qaeda_and_strategic_threat_u_s_homeland ]
degraded, jihadist operatives have had less success targeting hardened
targets and have turned instead to striking soft targets.
While authorities have moved to protect high-value targets, there simply
are far too many potential targets to protect them all. Governments are
stretched thin just trying to protect important government buildings,
bridges, dams, nuclear power plants, airports and mass-transit systems in
their jurisdiction. The reality on the ground is that there are not nearly
enough resources to protect them all, much less every potential location
where people concentrate in large groups * like shopping centers and
nightclubs. This means that some targets are unprotected and are
therefore, by definition, soft.
The selection of soft targets in this case indicates that the alleged
Manchester plotters did not possess the capability to strike more
strategic, high-value targets. While attacks against soft targets can be
tragic and quite bloody, they will not have the same effect as a
successful attack on high-value targets such as Parliament, the London
Stock Exchange or a nuclear power station.
It is also very interesting that the plotters were looking to hit soft
targets in Manchester and not soft targets in London. London, as the
capitol and a city that has been the center of several plots and attacks,
is generally on a higher alert than the rest of the country and therefore
would likely be seen as more difficult to target. Additionally, many of
the alleged suspects lived in the Manchester area, and as we have
previously discussed, [link
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/jihadist_threat_and_grassroots_defense ]
grassroots operatives, who are not as well trained as their transnational
brethren, tend to *think globally and act locally* meaning that they tend
to plan their attacks in familiar places where they are comfortable
operating, rather than in strange and potentially more hostile
environment.
In addition to targeting locations like shopping centers and the train
station, where there were expected to be large crowds over the holiday
weekend, the plotters also allegedly looked at the Birdcage nightclub, an
establishment that is famous for its *flamboyant and spectacular* shows
featuring female impersonators. This is a location the alleged plotters
likely considered to be a symbol of western decadence.
Flawed Tradecraft
As noted above, the alleged plotters had been under surveillance by MI5.
This indicates that their operational security was somehow compromised,
either via human or technical means. Furthermore, the plotters did not
appear to possess any surveillance detection capability -- or even much
situational awareness * as they went out into Manchester to conduct
pre-operational surveillance of potential targets while under government
surveillance themselves. Furthermore, the plotters* surveillance
techniques appear to have been very rudimentary in that they lacked both
cover for action and cover for status while conducting their surveillance
operations.
This aspect of the investigation reinforces two very important points that
STRATFOR has been making for some time now. First, that most militant
groups do not provide very good surveillance training and that as a
result, poor surveillance tradecraft has long proven to be an Achilles'
heel for militants. Secondly, because of this weakness, [link
http://www.stratfor.com/secrets_countersurveillance ] countersurveillance
operations can be very effective at catching militant operatives when they
are most vulnerable * [link
http://www.stratfor.com/vulnerabilities_terrorist_attack_cycle ] during
the surveillance phase of the terrorist attack cycle.
The press has also reported that during Operation Pathway, British
authorities intercepted a series of internet exchanges between suspects
suggested a terror strike was imminent. Furthermore, among the locations
raided on April 8, was the Cyber Net Cafe in Cheetham Hill, an
establishment where British authorities observed the suspects using
computers to communicate. Not only is this electronic surveillance
significant in that it allowed the authorities to know the approximate
timing of the attack, but perhaps just as importantly, this ability to
monitor the plotters* communications will allow the authorities to
identify other militants in the UK and beyond.
Indeed, in several previous cases related to the UK, such as the
investigations involving [link
http://www.stratfor.com/arrests_show_countries_agencies_cooperating ] the
U.S. arrest of Mohammed Junaid Babar and [link
http://www.stratfor.com/al_qaeda_next_phase_evolution ] the UK arrest of
Younis Tsouli, authorities were able to use communications from militant
suspects to identify and roll up militant cells in other countries.
Therefore, we will not be at all surprised to hear at some point in the
future that British authorities were be able use the communications of the
recently arrested suspects to tip off authorities in the U.S., Canada
other European countries or elsewhere, about the militant activities of
people the suspects were in contact with.
Links to Pakistan
And speaking of elsewhere, as noted above, 11 of the arrested suspects
were Pakistani nationals who entered the UK on student visas. At this
point it is not exactly clear if the 11 were radical militants
specifically sent to the UK to conduct attacks or if they came to the UK
without malicious intention and were then radicalized in the Petri dish of
Islamic radicalism that so rapidly replicates inside the British Muslim
community * what we have come to refer to as [link
http://www.stratfor.com/londonistan_al_qaeda_and_finsbury_park_mosque ]
Londonistan.
Many members of the British Parliament and the press have made a huge
issue out of the fact that 11 of the alleged plotters entered the UK on
student visas, but even if the plotters were radicals who used student
visas was a way to enter the UK, this is by no means a new tactic as some
are reporting. STRATFOR has long discussed the use of [link
http://www.stratfor.com/sleeper_cell_threat_search_unlikely_places ]
student visas, [link
http://www.stratfor.com/u_s_intelligence_bill_america_safer ] bogus
political asylum claims and other forms of immigration fraud that have
commonly been used by militants. There have been numerous prior examples
of jihadist operatives using student visas, such as the following:
-- Sept. 11 hijackers Mohammed Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi, entered the U.S.
on tourist visas, they were approved for M-1 student visas shortly before
carrying out their attacks.
--Youssef Samir Megahed, who was arrested in possession of an IED in Aug.
2007 and later sentenced to a 15 year prison sentence, was a Kuwaiti
engineering student who entered the U.S. on a student visa.
-- Mohammed Aatique, a convicted member of the [link
http://www.stratfor.com/many_faces_wahhabism ] *Virginia Jihad Network*
who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiracy and weapons
violations, also entered the U.S. from Pakistan as an engineering student.
In some ways, if the alleged plotters are connected to militant groups in
Pakistan such as al Qaeda or the [link
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20090408_tehrik_i_taliban_specious_clai m_and_brash_threats
] Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) it is more analytically significant than
if they turn out to be grassroots operatives. The operational security,
skills and terrorist tradecraft exhibited by the plotters are about one
would expect from a grassroots organization. This level of sophistication
is, however, far less than one would expect from a transnational
organization. Therefore, if this was an al Qaeda operation, it shows how
far the group has fallen in the past eight years. If it was the TTP, it
means that our previous estimate of their operational ability outside of
Pakistan was fairly accurate.
Lack of Evidence
To date, the British authorities have not been able to find the explosive
material and IED components they were expecting to find. This means that
the materials may still be hidden somewhere and used in a future attack.
It could, however, also indicate that the plot was not quite as far along
as the authorities believed, and perhaps their references to an attack on
a bank holiday was a holiday later on in the year.
While the plot as described by the British authorities was not a
significant, strategic threat to the existence of the UK, it still could
have been quite deadly and could very well have surpassed the [link
http://www.stratfor.com/tactical_realities_counterterrorism_war ] July 7,
2005 attacks in terms of final body count. Because of this, it is quite
possible that the British government decided to [link
http://www.stratfor.com/new_york_tunnels_and_broken_windows_approach ] err
on the side of disruption rather than on the side of prosecution. From an
ethical standpoint (and, not insignificantly in this day and age, a
political aspect) it is deemed better by many to disrupt a plot early and
risk the terror suspects being acquitted than it is to accidentally allow
them to conduct an attack while waiting for an iron-clad court case.
Salman Abedi, 22, Is Identified as Manchester Arena Bomber
Mr. Abedi’s ID was found at the scene of the bombing,…
"Mr. Abedi’s ID was found at the scene of the bombing, according to a law enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was still underway. Mr. Abedi was born in Britain in 1994, the son of immigrants from Libya, the official said."
There's nothing more important then to remember your ID and to make sure it falls out of your pocket before you blow yourself up.
Rita Katz (born in Basra, Iraq, 1963) is a terrorism analyst and the co-founder of the Search International Terrorist Entities (SITE) Intelligence Group, a private intelligence firm based in Washington, DC.
The Institute tracks global terrorist networks, and intercepts and distributes messages, videos, and advance warnings of suicide bombings from terrorist groups' communications networks.
...
Katz, a fluent Arabic speaker,
...
As a committed Zionist, Katz was reluctant to ever leave Israel, saying, “I believed that Jews belong in Israel”.[6] Nevertheless, in 1997 Katz’ husband was offered a research fellowship in endocrinology at the National Institutes of Health and they moved to Washington with their three children.
...
Critics of Katz claim she is giving terrorists a larger platform than they would otherwise have, and is too eager to find plots where they don't exist. ... Katz maintains professionals missed many signals about al-Qaeda before 9/11, and she is simply filling a gap...
In 2015, Katz described an apparent Australian online supporter of ISIS who used the online handle "Australi Witness" as holding a "prestige" position in online jihadi circles and as being "part of the hard core of a group of individuals who constantly look for targets for other people to attack". It later transpired that "Australi Witness" was a Jewish American called Joshua Ryne Goldberg who was arrested by the FBI.
Israeli propaganda agent Rita Katz was quick to inform Western media and intelligence agencies that "ISIS accounts" are "celebrating the attack" in Manchester. This is exactly how Israeli propagandists claimed that Palestinians were celebrating the attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11. This is how Israeli intelligence interprets attacks like the bombing to advance the Israeli construct known as the War on Terror. Every aspect of the War on Terror comes from Israeli military intelligence.
Last edited by scienceplease 2 on Wed May 24, 2017 7:39 am; edited 1 time in total
Here's what the media and politicians don't want you to know about the Manchester, UK, suicide attack: Salman Abedi, the 22 year old who killed nearly two dozen concert-goers in Manchester, UK, was the product of the US and UK overthrow of Gaddafi in Libya and "regime change" policy in Syria. He was a radicalized Libyan whose family fled Gaddafi's secular Libya, and later he trained to be an armed "rebel" in Syria, fighting for the US and UK "regime change" policy toward the secular Assad government.
The suicide attacker was the direct product of US and UK interventions in the greater Middle East.
According to the London Telegraph, Abedi, a son of Libyan immigrants living in a radicalized Muslim neighborhood in Manchester had returned to Libya several times after the overthrow of Muamar Gaddafi, most recently just weeks ago. After the US/UK and allied "liberation" of Libya, all manner of previously outlawed and fiercely suppressed radical jihadist groups suddenly found they had free rein to operate in Libya. This is the Libya that Abedi returned to and where he likely prepared for his suicide attack on pop concert attendees. Before the US-led attack on Libya in 2011, there was no al-Qaeda, ISIS, or any other related terrorist organization operating (at least with impunity) on Libyan soil.
Gaddafi himself warned Europe in January 2011 that if they overthrew his government the result would be radical Islamist attacks on Europe, but European governments paid no heed to the warnings. Post-Gaddafi Libya became an incubator of Islamist terrorists and terrorism, including prime recruiting ground for extremists to fight jihad in Syria against the also-secular Bashar Assad.
In Salman Abedi we have the convergence of both these disastrous US/UK and allied interventions, however: it turns out that not only did Abedi make trips to Libya to radicalize and train for terror, but he also travelled to Syria to become one of the "Syria rebels" fighting on the same side as the US and UK to overthrow the Assad government. Was he perhaps even trained in a CIA program? We don't know, but it certainly is possible.
While the mainstream media and opportunistic politicians will argue that the only solution is more western intervention in the Middle East, the plain truth is that at least partial responsibility for this attack lies at the feet of those who pushed and pursued western intervention in Libya and Syria.
There would have been no jihadist training camps in Libya had Gaddafi not been overthrown by the US/UK and allies. There would have been no explosion of ISIS or al-Qaeda in Syria had it not been for the US/UK and allied policy of "regime change" in that country.
When thinking about Abedi's guilt for this heinous act of murder, do not forget those interventionists who lit the fuse that started this conflagration. The guilt rests squarely on their shoulders as well.
Crisis Actors Rehearse Terror Attack in Manchester, UK 10 May 2017
Published on May 24, 2017
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/recentr http://eng.recentr.com/
The Manchester bomber (identified "by his bank card") lived in a radical community of exiled anti-Ghaddafi Libyans who run all kinds of operations and groups. Naturally, British spooks are right in the middle of the action.
The Manchester suicide bomber was repeatedly flagged to the authorities over his extremist views, but was not stopped by officers, it emerged last night.
Counter Terrorism agencies were facing questions after it emerged Salman Abedi told friends that “being a suicide bomber was okay”, prompting them to call the Government’s anti-terrorism hotline.
Sources suggest that authorities were informed of the danger posed by Abedi on at least five separate occasions in the five years prior to the attack on Monday night.
Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi
Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi
The authorities were also aware that Abedi’s father was linked to a well-known militant Islamist group in Libya, which is proscribed in Britain. Abedi also had links to several British-based jihadis with Isil connections.
Yesterday his father was detained by Libyan militia in the capital Tripoli while the suicide bomber’s two brothers have separately been arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences.
Father of Salman Abedi, the Manchester Arena bomber
Father of Salman Abedi, the Manchester Arena bomber
The apparent lapses emerged on a day of heightened police activity as the hunt for Abedi’s terror cell intensified.
Officers raided the suspected ‘bomb factory’ where it is feared he made the device before the attack.
Last night the Home Secretary conceded that Abedi was known the intelligence services, while counter terrorism officials were braced for criticism over the apparent failures
It came as:
It emerged security services are examining links between Abedi and an expert bomb-maker who had lived in the same street in Manchester
Leaked pictures last night emerged in the US of fragments of the bomb, prompting a diplomatic row between the Downing Street and the US security services.
Britain was placed on security lock down with soldiers on the streets and several high-profile events cancelled
The general election will resume with Ukip’s general election manifesto launch today
A minute’s silence will be held on Thursday morning at 11am in memory of the victims
A female police officer was revealed as one of the bomb victims, as further identities emerged
The missed opportunities to catch Abedi were beginning to mount up last night. The Telegraph has spoken to a community leader who said that Abedi was reported two years ago “because he thought he was involved in extremism and terrorism”.
Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, said: “People in the community expressed concerns about the way this man was behaving and reported it in the right way using the right channels.
“They did not hear anything since.”
Two friends of Abedi also became so worried they separately telephoned the police counter-terrorism hotline five years ago and again last year.
“They had been worried that ‘he was supporting terrorism’ and had expressed the view that ‘being a suicide bomber was ok’,” a source told the BBC.
Akram Ramadan, 49, part of the close-knit Libyan community in south Manchester, said Abedi had been banned from Didsbury Mosque after he had confronted the Imam who was delivering an anti-extremist sermon.
A police forensic investigator at an address in Elsmore Road, Greater Manchester, after a suicide bomber killed 22 people, including children, as an explosion tore through fans leaving a pop concert in Manchester
A police forensic investigator at an address in Elsmore Road, Greater Manchester, after a suicide bomber killed 22 people, including children, as an explosion tore through fans leaving a pop concert in Manchester CREDIT: PA
Mr Ramadan said he understood that Abedi had been placed on a “watch list” because the mosque reported him to the authorities for his extremist views.
A well-placed source at Didsbury Mosque confirmed it had contacted the Home Office’s Prevent anti-radicalisation programme as a result.
A US official also briefed that members of Abedi’s own family had contacted British police saying that he was “dangerous”, but again the information does not appear to have been acted upon.
Abedi's own family background might also have been a red flag to authorities. His father was a member of the militant Libyan Islamic Fighting Group.
Yet Abedi was able to travel frequently between the UK and Libya, where it is feared he trained in bombmaking and possibly traveled to Syria.
His youngest brother, Hisham - who is photographed on social media wielding an automatic rifle, was yesterday arrested by the Libyans who suspect him of knowing about the Manchester plot in advance and plotting his own attack in Tripoli.
US authorities said Abedi was known to them prior to the atrocity while France’s interior minister said the 22-year-old had “proven” links with Islamic State and that both British and French intelligence services had information that the attacker had been in Syria.
Police forensic investigators at an address in Elsmore Road, Greater Manchester, after a suicide bomber killed 22 people, including children, as an explosion tore through fans leaving a pop concert in Manchester
Police forensic investigators at an address in Elsmore Road, Greater Manchester, after a suicide bomber killed 22 people, including children, as an explosion tore through fans leaving a pop concert in Manchester CREDIT: PA
Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, disclosed that the intelligence services had been aware of Abedi, who had only in the past few weeks returned to the UK after visiting Libya.
Rudd told Sky News: “We do know that he was known up to a point to the intelligence services.”
Ramadan Abedi, the suicide bomber’s father who lives in Tripoli, gave a series of interviews yesterday in which he denied his son was to blame.
Mr Abedi told Bloomberg: “I was really shocked when I saw the news, I still don’t believe it.
“He was always against those attacks, saying there’s no religious justification for them. I don’t understand how he’d have become involved in an attack that led to the killing of children.”
But a friend of the family said Abedi’s parents had become so concerned about his behaviour they had ordered him to leave the UK and live with them in Libya.
Adel Elghrani said: “The father was so concerned he confiscated his passport. But then Salman went to his mother and said that he wanted to go on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia and she gave him his passport back and he came to England instead.”
Abedi then flew back to Britain, carrying out his deadly attack a few weeks later.
Counter-terrorism officers now believe that Abedi rented a flat through Airbnb in the days before the attack and stayed there until around 7pm on the night of the Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena.
He carried the bomb to the destination in a rucksack and detonated it at just after 10.30pm as the US pop star was completing her last song.
Sources last night told The Daily Telegraph that there were two separate bomb factories, with the chemicals mixed in the rented Airbnb flat in Granby Row before the bomb itself was assembled elsewhere.
It was not clear if the second flat had been discovered.
The photographs of the bomb fragments were leaked to the New York Times hours after Ms Rudd had said leaks of intelligence shared with the US authorities had to stop.
It prompted fury in Whitehall, with Ms Rudd and the Attorney General Jeremy Wright understood to be among officials who phoned their counterparts in the US to demand answers.
The Daily Telegraph understands that there is such serious concern about the leak that Theresa May will raise it with President Donald Trump when she sees him at a Nato meeting in Brussels today.
A senior Whitehall source described the leak as “unacceptable” and said the US authorities had been left “in no doubt about our huge strength of feeling on this issue”.
Contrary to what the media are reporting, the parents of Selman'abidi or Labidi, the alleged perpetrator of the suicide bombing of Manchester, are not refugees but people who have benefited from one of the many special programs of protection of the services of british intelligence.
Selman este born to libyan parents in Manchester in 1994.
His father, Ramadan'abidi, was an officer of a rank intermediate in the intelligence services in the libyan before being recruited by the British.
Its coverage would have been toasted accidentally by a relative of his wife, Samia Tebbal, shortly after the failure of a vast conspiracy within the libyan Army for the assassination of Muammar Gaddafi.
This last plot against Gaddafi had not only triggered one of the most extensive purges within the security services but the dissolution of the libyan armed forces, to be replaced by what Gaddafi called " the people armed ", or " the people in arms ". A concept loosely inspired by the systems in switzerland and sweden in regards to the logistics of defence , which will prove fatal in 2011, when Libya was attacked byNATO.
It is the secret services and the british who were responsible for the leakage or exfiltration of the family 'abidi from Libya.
Officially, the'abidi have fled the dictatorship of Gaddafi to take refuge in England.
The'abidi were first installed in London before moving to a suburb in the south of Manchester, where he is still resident for over a decade.
Like many young people of the suburbs of major european cities, Selman grew up without fixed landmarks, and has displayed an enthusiasm particular vis-à-vis what is called the "Arab Spring" to the point of wanting to join the rebels libyans. This has naturally attracted very quickly the attention of british intelligence in charge of exploring the suburbs in search of candidates ready to sacrifice themselves in battle against the enemies of His Majesty in the name of Allah.
The suicide attack, which struck down a concert of pop to Manchester to left 22 dead and 50 wounded, according to an assessment released in recent hours.
The british police has quickly revealed theidentity of the alleged perpetrator of the attack. This suggests that the latter was not only known but under supervision by agents of the contractors from the same background as its immediate surroundings.
These details have not been released by any big media european, and it will probably never be. Because of State law.
(Note the date - 22 April 2017 - I wonder if the Tory Chairman has washed all the egg off his face yet?)
'ritain would not be safe under Jeremy Corbyn because he cannot take the “difficult decisions” needed in the event of a terrorist attack, the man running the Tory campaign has said.
In an exclusive interview with The Telegraph, Sir Patrick McLoughlin claims it is “blindingly obvious” that voters would be better protected under Theresa May.
In a very personal attack, he questions the Labour leader’s judgment in matters of war and says he is “not suitable” to take on the responsibilities of being prime minister.
“There are decisions which prime ministers have to take and those people in authority have to take [which] are sometimes very uncomfortable,” Sir Patrick says....'
Well, apart from 'False Flags', I would say the opposite is true - by refusing to attack other nations for 'Regime Change' and other completely illegal reasons, there would certainly be less reason for those countries' citizens to attack the UK (but we all know the vast majooooooority of these 'Terrorist Attacks' are either 'False Flags', hoaxes or a combination of the two, so the Tory Chairman might be right _________________ 'And he (the devil) said to him: To thee will I give all this power, and the glory of them; for to me they are delivered, and to whom I will, I give them'. Luke IV 5-7.
'I have no idea who stole her image or why': Mother slams trolls who used her 12-year-old daughter's photo in collage of 'missing children' after Manchester terrorist attack - despite her being safe at school in Australia
'....Pictured in the top row, second photo, Gemma was among 25 people the collage claimed needed to be located.
Mail Online understands that a number of the photos used in the collage are fake and even include photos of children who are deceased.
However not all images posted to social media of missing children were done so by those seeking attention, with some genuinely searching for loved ones.....' _________________ 'And he (the devil) said to him: To thee will I give all this power, and the glory of them; for to me they are delivered, and to whom I will, I give them'. Luke IV 5-7.
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(go to link for video). _________________ 'And he (the devil) said to him: To thee will I give all this power, and the glory of them; for to me they are delivered, and to whom I will, I give them'. Luke IV 5-7.
According to Scotland Yard, the attack on the crowd leaving the Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena, 22 May, has been perpetrated by Salman Abedi. A bankcard has been conveniently found in the pocket of the mutilated corpse of the ‘terrorist’.
This attack is generally interpreted as proof that the United Kingdom is not implicated in international terrorism and that, on the contrary, it is a victim of it.
Salman Abedi was born in the UK of a family of Libyan immigrants. He has travelled to Libya several times in the last couple of months, with or without his father.
His father Ramadan Abedi, with whom Salman lived, is a former officer in [Gaddafi’s] Libyan Intelligence Services. He specialised in the surveillance of the Islamist movement, but two decades later has failed to notice that his son has joined Daesh (IS).
In 1992, Ramadan Abedi was sent back to Libya by Britain’s MI6 and was involved in a British-devised plot to assassinate Muammar Gaddafi. The operation having been readily exposed, he was exfiltrated by MI6 and transferred back to the UK where he obtained political asylum. He moved in 1999 to Whalley Range (south of Manchester) where there was already resident a small Libyan Islamist community.
In 1994, Ramadan Abedi returned again to Libya under MI6’s direction. In late 1995 he is involved in the creation of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), a local branch of Al-Qaeda, in conjunction with Abdelhakim Belhadj. The LIFG was then employed by MI6 again to assassinate Gaddafi, for a payoff of £100,000. This operation, which also failed, provoked heated exchanges within British Intelligence, leading to the resignation of one David Shayler.
Other former members of the LIFG have also lived at Whalley Range, including Abedi’s friend Abd al-Baset-Azzouz. In 2009, this last joined Al-Qaeda in Pakistan and became a close associate of its chief, Ayman al-Zawahiri. In 2011, al-Baset-Azzouz is active on the ground with the NATO operation against Libya. On 11 September 2012, he directs the operation against the US Ambassador in Libya, Christopher Stevens, assassinated at Benghazi. He is arrested in Turkey and extradited to the US in December 2014, his trial still pending.
Nobody pays attention to the fact that Ramadan Abedi has linked LIFG members to the formation of Al-Qaeda in Iraq and, in 2011, he takes part in MI6’s ‘Arab Spring’ operations, and in LIFG’s role on the ground in support of NATO. In any event, Abedi returned to Libya after the fall of Gaddafi and moves his family there, leaving his older children in the family home at Whalley Range.
According to the former Spanish Prime Minister José Maria Aznar, Abdelhakim Belhadj was involved in the assassinations in Madrid of 11 March 2004. Later, he is secretly arrested in Malaysia by the CIA and transferred to Libya where he is tortured not by Libyan or American functionaries but by MI6 agents. He is finally freed after the accord between Saif al-Islam Gaddafi [Gaddafi’s son] and the jihadists.
During the Libyan war, Belhadj, who had been living in Qatar, returned to Libya, courtesy of the Qatari Emir, and commanded the operations on the ground in league with NATO. On 28 July 2011, he organised the assassination of General Abdul Fatah Younis who claimed to have joined the ‘rebels’, but who Belhadj accused of overseeing the struggle against the LIFG during the 1990s.
In September 2011, Belhadj was named military governor of Tripoli by NATO. In 2012, seconded by the Irish-Libyan Mahdi al-Hatari, he created the Free Syrian Army, then returns again to Libya. On 2 May 2014, he is received officially at the Quai d’Orsay [the French Foreign Ministry].
In December 2013, following the discovery in the archives of Gaddafi’s Libyan regime of a letter from the former chief of MI6, Belhadj launches proceedings in London against the UK for having kidnapped and tortured him nine years earlier. British Intelligence then illegally places his lawyers under phone-tapping, although it is ultimately constrained to destroy the intelligence obtained.
According to Egypt’s Prosecutor General, Hisham Barakat, in May 2015, Belhadj becomes Daesh’ most senior figure in North Africa, this claim taken up by Interpol. Belhadj installs three training camps for Daesh in Libya at Derna (in the former property of Abd al-Baset-Azzouz), at Syrte and at Sebrata. In October 2016, he launches in London new legal proceedings regarding his kidnapping and torture, this time nominally against the former director of MI6, Sir Mark Allen.
Daesh has claimed responsibility for the Manchester attack, but without describing Salman Abedi as a ‘martyr’. After the assassination, Ramadan Abedi has declared his opposition to jihad in a telephone conversation with journalists. He has also claimed that his son had intended to spend the month of Ramadan [beginning 26 May] with him in Libya and that he is convinced of his innocence.
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Evan Jones
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'Suppression of truth, human spirit and the holy chord of justice never works long-term. Something the suppressors never get.' David Southwell
http://aangirfan.blogspot.com http://aanirfan.blogspot.com
Martin Van Creveld: Let me quote General Moshe Dayan: "Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother."
Martin Van Creveld: I'll quote Henry Kissinger: "In campaigns like this the antiterror forces lose, because they don't win, and the rebels win by not losing."
On 22nd May at approximately 22.30hrs a bomb was detonated at the Ariana Grande Manchester Arena concert, Manchester, UK. Much has emerged in the national press and television media over the incident. There are some things though that we don’t know.
In the early hours of the morning of the 23rd May – approximately 02.35BST NDTV via the Washington Post stated quite categorically that:
“U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, identified the assailant as Salman Abedi. They did not provide information about his age or nationality, and British officials declined to comment on the suspect’s identity.”
This was published at a time when British police and security services were refusing to make any statements as to who they thought the perpetrators were because at the time, they were dealing with the immediate aftermath of the event.
Quite how unnamed ‘US Officials’ wishing to remain anonymous correctly identified the exact individual exactly four hours after the incident from 3,500 miles away is anyone’s guess, particularly when British police and security services continued to make no such statement.
At around the same time this tweet appears from columnist/lobby correspondent at The New York Observer Andre Walker. There is probably a good reason why he is in Manchester. He clearly states on his Twitter account that this image is FAKE. I am reliably informed that the image is in fact the Manchester Arena exit doors from straight after the bombing and the devastation is evident. How this journalist got this image quite so fast without actually being there just two minutes after Greater Manchester Police put out a Tweet stating that they were now responding to serious incident is difficult to understand.
75 minutes after the incident happened not one single journalist from Sky News or the BBC was anywhere near the scene. This could be for all sorts of valid reasons, not least because the police may well have cordoned off the area. But reports on both Sky and the BBC were very sketchy and confused. Yet two minutes from the incident itself a reporter from an American media outlet, issues images of the carnage (that are not retweets according to his own account).
According to an eagle eyed and well known blogger, Andre Walker’s employer is no less than Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. And that after numerous emails and requests for information
“André’s gone to ground: he hasn’t responded to tweets and emails.”
Just before 06.00 hrs 23rd May, Greater Manchester police are sure that there is one perpetrator and that he is male and blew himself up in a suicide mission. They confirm that there are 22 victims who died and 59 others with injuries at hospitals. No names are mentioned.
Less than an hour later GMP are also appealing for witnesses and any dash-cam or mobile footage to help with their enquiries.
At 06.53 hrs Greater Manchester police release first official information that they have made an arrest – but still no names.
Much speculation from the media gets underway. Is the arrest significant? Some of the media speculation is quite vile and politically charged.
Last night The Guardian confirms at 23.18 that
“Police confirmed the 22-year-old’s identity after officials in the United States passed it to news reporters, apparently against the wishes of the British police and security services.”
Salman Abedi is now officially identified and named as the suicide bomber.
Sky News reports this morning (24th May) that there are 14 people still missing, mostly teenagers but among them several adults. Sky also reports “meanwhile, there are a number of Polish citizens that are also among the missing.”
The police are satisfied that the whereabouts of all unaccompanied children are now known.
Some ten hours after the incident took place we have 22 confirmed dead and 59 in hospital. But 14 plus missing. This will no doubt unfold with time. Let us hope that they all turn up safe and well.
The latest (06.01hrs) is that four of the 14 missing have now been identified and unfortunately passed away.
The bomb used was clearly highly sophisticated and had huge explosive power, especially if more dead are being identified some 30 hours after the incident.
The BBC reports that “The UK has not seen a bomb attack like the Manchester outrage since 2005 for three simple reasons:
It takes some expertise, which is difficult to come by without help.
It requires a lot of planning and preparation, both of which increase the chances that MI5 and other agencies will discover what is going on.
Individuals who are sufficiently organised to put the first two together and determined enough to see the plan through to its awful conclusion are very rare.”
The BBC also reports that:
For more than a decade, the BBC Home Affairs Unit has monitored every single terrorist incident, attempted or failed, that has made it into the public domain.
Quite simply, most of the people we have seen dragged through the courts are not capable of this kind of incident. Many aspire to “martyrdom” and talk about building bombs.
But they are either, to be frank, too stupid and disorganised to turn their fantasies into reality or, alternatively, they get caught because they don’t know how to cover their tracks.
Most jihadists discount a bomb attack at the early stages: they realise that it’s too difficult to pull off. They might accidentally kill themselves while making the device. Their purchasing patterns might raise suspicions in a local pharmacy or, online, prompt GCHQ to have a closer look at their digital life. They may turn to someone else for help who, unbeknown to both, is already on the MI5 radar.
A number of news outlets are reporting that Salman Albedi could not have acted alone. This seems plausible as it is less likely that a quiet 23 year old would have managed this atrocity on his own. That means quite possibly more trouble ahead if co-conspirators are not quickly apprehended.
Abedi is known to have traveled to Libya. It is reported one of his friends was killed by a drone in Syria.
This is the thirteenth major terrorist incident in Europe in just two years – that collectively has seen the murdering of over 300 innocent civilians and thousands injured. By comparison, the United States has suffered with fewer than 100 terrorist related deaths, since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. This is because America, largely responsible for attacking a number of countries across the Middle East is safely located on the other side of the planet. Europe is on the doorstep of all this carnage.
There is much that still don’t know about this particular atrocity and how many more we will have to endure. There seems to be some interference of a sorts by Washington in this incident – again, one can only speculate. Perhaps reading this might connect a few more dots BREXIT: Proof That Britain’s EU Referendum Was Rigged. This article confirms the extent of outrageous and illegal American interference in British politics recently.
We don’t know why people off the radar of the security services such as Abedi and the 7/7 bombers was such that atrocities are possible when so much organisation and capability is required.
One thing we do know. This attack, and the twelve others across Europe is called ‘blowback’ – defined as “the unintended adverse results of a political action.”
It was the politician’s who took Britain to the middle East and north Africa and blew up Libya then Syria. At the time Libya, one of the wealthiest nations in the region which had free healthcare, full education and employment and less poverty than Denmark was considered one of the most moderate – the same can be said of Syria. Both countries infrastructure has all but collapsed. Both countries are now overrun by head-chopping extremists, killers and psychopaths. Both leaders of those countries might have been brutal to get into power and keep it but both lived in regions where brutal leadership is generally required to keep the peace – that much is clearly evident.
This is what happens when illegal, unjustified attacks on sovereign nation’s occur and hundreds of thousands of innocent victims are killed, maimed or displaced. Why Britain’s politician’s seem unable to grasp this simple fact is beyond normal basic understanding of humanity. They are at fault and have the blood of every single one of these young innocent lives on their hands.
Libya is where Albedi’s family originated – Syria and Libya and Iraq too is the centre of the biggest terror networks in history. The dots are not hard to connect are they?
The news from Manchester continues to horrify as each individual tragedy gets confirmed in all its heart-rending detail.
In my two posts in the immediate aftermath of the Manchester bombing, I concluded:
If it was a home made bomb, it was a remarkably powerful one. It would be very unusual for a lone terrorist to be able to make a bomb this powerful. It is hard to think of any incident where an individual acting entirely alone has successfully done that.
It has become plain that the reason the critical warning has been declared (which is British for State of Emergency) is that the security services believe such a powerful portable bomb almost certainly requires organisational support to build it. Which is precisely what I had realised. I suppose that is natural; I was a trained part of the state machine for a long time, so I can think like the state machine.
I was subject to accusations that I was secretly suggesting that this attack was perpetrated by the British state, in order to influence the election. It is undoubtedly true that the timing of the attack is remarkable – it came as Tory poll ratings were plummeting, Theresa May had just made the screeching U-turn or pretended U-turn on social care, and then appeared totally out of her depth in the Andrew Neil interview, destroying her “who do you trust” narrative.
In fact, nothing I wrote can in any way be construed as indicating I thought that the British state was implicated in the attack. For the record, I do not think it is remotely likely the British state was implicated in the attack. I knew a lot of senior people in the security services, and a few in special forces, and there is not a single one I suspect would do this kind of thing, or not actively seek to stop it if they came across it. I simply discount the idea.
But the election is the elephant in the room. We cannot pretend this has no impact on the election. Historians will look back at how this did or did not affect the course of the election.
I have a number of concerns. The first is that I argued that the Russian referendum in Crimea was not legitimate because you can’t have a free and fair election with troops patrolling the streets. I still hold that view about the Crimea, and I have real concerns about proceeding with the election during, in effect, a state of emergency.
The second point is that, because I rule out a British government false flag, that does not mean that I rule out the idea that the timing of the attack was an attempt to affect the course of the election. It seems very likely that it was timed to affect the election, especially when you consider that an attack from the same kind of jihadists occurred in France just before their recent election.
You would have expected an attack with such a sophisticated bomb to be part of a pattern of more or less simultaneous attacks using similar technology. That is what the security services did expect; hence the “Critical” warning. The fact there has so far been only one attack suggests to me that it was brought forward quickly to a target of opportunity due to the snap election.
There are many non-British state and non-state groups which might wish to influence the election. Remember that the very definition of terrorism is violence with a political objective. If it does not have a political objective it is not terrorism. Let me make this observation. The ideology of virtually all “Islamic” terrorism stems from Saudi Arabia. Wahhabism is fundamental to the very foundation of the rule of the Saudi royal family. Every known jihadist terrorist group, including ISIS, Al-Nusra, and Al-Qaeda, has received funding from Saudi Arabia. Here is a fascinating article by MI6’s Alastair Crooke on Wahhabism and the “duality” of the superficially hostile ISIS/Saudi relationship. Everything we know about Salman Abedi is consistent with this influence.
Jeremy Corbyn has continually criticised Saudi Arabia’s appalling human rights record and its devastating attacks on civilians in Yemen. Corbyn has vowed to stop arms supplies to Saudi Arabia. By contrast, Theresa May and her ministers have repeatedly visited Saudi Arabia and positively kowtowed to its rulers, and looked to increase arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Who do you think the Saudi ruling class, the World’s leading sponsors of terrorism, wish to win the General Election?
Furthermore a key part of the Saudi sponsored Sunni terrorist surge is support for Al-Nusra and the other jihadist rebel groups fighting to overthrow Assad in Syria. I do not support Assad, but neither have I ever thought it remotely sane to support a violent conflict to overthrow him and replace him with jihadist head-choppers. Yet the British establishment, and especially the Conservative Party, has been gung-ho to bomb Syria and help the jihadists to replace Assad.
Who has stood against the bombing of Syria and against British military support for the Saudi/jihadist agenda in Syria? Jeremy Corbyn and the SNP.
I have no doubt whatsoever the jihadists would try to influence the election, and try to influence it against Corbyn. As the great journalist John Pilger said yesterday of this possibility that ISIS are trying to influence the election against Corbyn and the SNP:
“They know how to intervene in public discourse every day and in politics every day. So that suggestion may well have a great deal of validity.”
Security issues traditionally play well for the right in an election. At time of attack there is a tendency to rally to authority figures. Rather than a very inadequate politician under fire, the Prime Minister has been able to appear in an entirely unchallenged setting as a figure of patriotism. Let me be 100% clear. It is not that May has done anything wrong; it is just that these effects are what the terrorists are probably counting on.
So in our hearts we must never forget the unfortunate victims of this bombing, so young and with so much talent. We must remember the horribly maimed as well as the dead, and ensure they receive all the support they need. We must condemn without ceasing the disgusting violence that destroys so many lives.
Aussie mum stunned as daughter's photo used in fake Manchester terror missing child post
Quote:
A mother woke to hundreds of messages of concern after her daughter's photo was plastered all over Twitter as a potential victim of the Manchester terror attack.
The only problem? Rachel Devine's daughter Gemma was in Melbourne.
The 12-year-old was safe in Australia, but someone had mistakenly used Gemma's photo on Twitter, claiming the girl was lost in the panic scenes following the deadly blast at an Ariana Grande concert.
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 9:53 pm Post subject:
Hahahahahahaha
Manchester bomber was known "up to a point" by security services, home secretary Amber Rudd has confirmed
Mark Sands
http://www.cityam.com/265329/manchester-bomber-known-up-point-security -services-home
Home secretary Amber Rudd has confirmed that Manchester bomber Salman Abedi was a known figure to the UK's security services.
Speaking after the UK's threat level was upgraded to "critical", meaning a new attack may be imminent, Rudd told Sky News this morning that "people are likely to see some military on the streets", but declined to provide further detail.
Rudd said that Abedi was "known up to a point by the intelligence services", adding that she expected more information to come to light, but declined to expand on whether Abedi was on a specific terror watch list.
She also urged members of the public to be "a bit more vigilant than usual", adding that security services had foiled 13 attacks since 2013.
The home secretary added that she expected the "critical" threat level to be temporary, and expressed confidence that it would provide for extra security at the weekend's big sporting events, such as the FA Cup Final, due to take place at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
Separately, Rudd told BBC Radio this morning: "It seems likely, possible, that he was not doing this on his own.
"The intelligence services and the police are pursuing their leads in order to make sure they get all the information and reduce therefore the risk."
In a statement this morning, London mayor Sadiq Khan said there would be additional police officers on the capital's streets "over the coming days", including armed officers and military personnel at key sites, while extra staff would be deployed on transport networks.
"London stands in solidarity with Manchester. Those who seek to harm and divide us through barbaric acts of terrorism will never succeed. We will never be cowed by terrorism," Khan said.
Manchester attack: Members of the public 'reported Salman Abedi to anti-terror hotline' http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/manchester-attack-lates t-public-reported-salman-abedi-terrorism-hotline-a7754621.html
Calls thought to have been made five years ago after Abedi left school
Jon Sharman Thursday 25 May 2017 09:51 BST
Two people who had known Manchester bomber Salman Abedi at college tipped off police after he made statements "supporting terrorism," it has been reported.
An unnamed Muslim community worker told the BBC two people who knew the attacker called the anti-terror hotline after Abedi expressed the view that "being a suicide bomber was okay".
The calls are thought to have been made five years ago after Abedi left school, the community worker added.
The claims come before Theresa May is due to chair a fourth meeting of the Government's Cobra committee in London, before she heads to a Nato summit.
In response to the heightened threat, the Government has activated Operation Temperer, providing up to 3,800 troops to support the police in security operations.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd said 984 military personnel were being deployed around the country, which the Metropolitan Police said had freed up 1,000 armed officers to carry out patrols.
She confirmed Abedi had recently returned from a visit to Libya, and said the nature of the attack suggested he may have had support.
A spokesman for Libyan authorities said one of Abedi's final acts before the murders was to ring his mother.
He told BBC2's Newsnight: "His brother felt there was something going on there in Manchester and he thought his brother would do something like bombing or attack. So after that, he told us, 'Having internet, I see the attack in Manchester and I knew that's my brother'." _________________ www.lawyerscommitteefor9-11inquiry.org www.rethink911.org www.patriotsquestion911.com www.actorsandartistsfor911truth.org www.mediafor911truth.org www.pilotsfor911truth.org www.mp911truth.org www.ae911truth.org www.rl911truth.org www.stj911.org www.v911t.org www.thisweek.org.uk www.abolishwar.org.uk www.elementary.org.uk www.radio4all.net/index.php/contributor/2149 http://utangente.free.fr/2003/media2003.pdf
"The maintenance of secrets acts like a psychic poison which alienates the possessor from the community" Carl Jung
https://37.220.108.147/members/www.bilderberg.org/phpBB2/
Fighters say government operated 'open door' policy allowing them to join rebels, as authorities investigate background of Manchester bomber
A mural in Tripoli paying tribute to fighters from Manchester who joined the 17 February Martyrs' Brigade during Libya's revolution against Gaddafi (AFP)
Amandla Thomas-Johnson
Simon Hooper
Thursday 25 May 2017 07:20 UTC
The British government operated an "open door" policy that allowed Libyan exiles and British-Libyan citizens to join the 2011 uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi even though some had been subject to counter-terrorism control orders, Middle East Eye can reveal.
Several former rebel fighters now back in the UK told MEE that they had been able to travel to Libya with "no questions asked" as authorities continued to investigate the background of a British-Libyan suicide bomber who killed 22 people in Monday's attack in Manchester.
Salman Abedi, 22, the British-born son of exiled dissidents who returned to Libya as the revolution against Gaddafi gathered momentum, is also understood to have spent time in the North African country in 2011 and to have returned there on several subsequent occasions.
British police have said they believe the bomber, who returned to Manchester just a few days before the attack, was part of a network and have arrested six people including Abedi's older brother since Monday.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd has said that Abedi was known to security services, while a local community worker told the BBC that several people had reported him to the police via an anti-terrorism hotline.
Salman Abedi travelled to Libya during the country's 2011 revolution (Police handout)
On Wednesday, authorities in Tripoli said that Abedi's younger brother and father, who had resettled in Libya after the revolution, had also been arrested on suspicion of links to the Islamic State (IS) group, which claimed responsibility for Monday's attack.
Sources spoken to by MEE suggest that the government facilitated the travel of Libyan exiles and British-Libyan residents and citizens keen to fight against Gaddafi including some who it deemed to pose a potential security threat.
'No questions asked'
One British citizen with a Libyan background who was placed on a control order – effectively house arrest – because of fears that he would join militant groups in Iraq said he was "shocked" that he was able to travel to Libya in 2011 shortly after his control order was lifted.
"I was allowed to go, no questions asked," said the source, who wished to remain anonymous.
He said he had met several other British-Libyans in London who also had control orders lifted in 2011 as the war against Gaddafi intensified, with the UK, France and the US carrying out air strikes and deploying special forces soldiers in support of the rebels.
"They didn't have passports, they were looking for fakes or a way to smuggle themselves across," said the source.
But within days of their control orders being lifted, British authorities returned their passports, he said.
"These were old school LIFG guys, they [the British authorities] knew what they were doing," he said, referring to the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, an anti-Gaddafi Islamist militant group formed in 1990 by Libyan veterans of the fight against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.
The British government listed the LIFG as a proscribed terrorist organisation in 2005, describing it as seeking to establish a "hard-line Islamic state" and "part of the wider Islamist extremist movement inspired by al-Qaeda". Former members of the LIFG deny that the group had any links with al-Qaeda and say it was committed only to removing Gaddafi from power.
Belal Younis, another British citizen who went to Libya, described how he was stopped under 'Schedule 7' counter-terrorism powers on his return to the UK after a visit to the country in early 2011. Schedule 7 allows police and immigration officials to detain and question any person passing through border controls at ports and airports to determine whether they are involved in terrorism.
He said he was subsequently asked by an intelligence officer from MI5, the UK's domestic security agency: "Are you willing to go into battle?"
"While I took time to find an answer he turned and told me the British government have no problem with people fighting against Gaddafi," he told MEE.
Travel 'sorted' by MI5
As he was travelling back to Libya in May 2011 he was approached by two counter-terrorism police officers in the departure lounge who told him that if he was going to fight he would be committing a crime.
But after providing them with the name and phone number of the MI5 officer he had spoken to previously, and following a quick phone call to him, he was waved through.
As he waited to board the plane, he said the same MI5 officer called him to tell him that he had "sorted it out".
"The government didn't put any obstacles in the way of people going to Libya," he told MEE.
"The vast majority of UK guys were in their late twenties. There were some 18 and 19. The majority who went from here were from Manchester."
But he said he thought it was unlikely that Abedi, who would only have been 16 at the time, would have been recruited as a fighter.
"The guys I was fighting with would never put a 16-year-old boy anywhere near the frontline."
Younis said he did not think that the policy of allowing British-Libyans to fight againt Gaddafi had been a contributing factor in Monday's attack, pointing out that IS was not present in the country at the time - and said he had no regrets about his decision to fight.
"What inspired me to go to Libya was the liberty of civilians. There's no way that that can morph into killing children," he said.
Another British citizen with experience of fighting in both Libya and in Syria with rebel groups also told MEE that he had been able to travel to and from the UK without disruption.
"No questions were asked," he said.
The majority of the fighters flew to Tunisia and then crossed the border into Libya, while others travelled via Malta, he said.
"The whole Libyan diaspora were out there fighting alongside the rebel groups," he added.
Libyan rebel fighters pictured in the oil port of Brega in March 2011 (AFP)
One British-Libyan man from Manchester who also wished to remain anonymous told MEE that he had travelled frequently to Libya during the 2011 revolution to undertake humanitarian aid work.
"I never got prevented from going to Libya or stopped when I tried to come back," he said.
The man said that he had come across Salman Abedi at their local mosque in the Didsbury neighbourhood but that he had "kept himself to himself" and was not an active member of the community.
His family, who were originally from Tripoli, had returned to Libya, he said.
"I guess if your family is away from you that sense of belonging dissipates. For us Libyans in Manchester - they're trying to imply we knew. He was just an individual and he's nothing to do with us."
Another person who knew Abedi described him as a "hot head" with a reputation for involvement in petty crime.
"Yesterday they're drug dealers, today they're Muslims," he said, adding that he believed Abedi had also been friends with Anil Khalil Raoufi, an IS recruiter from Didsbury who was killed in Syria in 2014.
'Elite SAS training'
One of the British-Libyans spoken to by MEE described how he had carried out "PR work" for the rebels in the months before Gaddafi was overthrown and eventually killed in October 2011.
He said he was employed to edit videos showing Libyan rebels being trained by former British SAS and Irish special forces mercenaries in Benghazi, the eastern city from where the uprising against Gaddafi was launched.
"They weren't cheap videos with Arabic nasheeds [songs], they were slick, professional glossy films which we were showing Qataris and Emiratis to support troops who were getting elite SAS training."
He was also tasked by rebel commanders with training young Libyans to use cameras so that they could sell packages to international media.
A volunteer fighter from Manchester pictured in Ajdabiya in eastern Libya in April 2011 (AFP)
On one assignment at a rebel base camp in a Misrata school, he came across a group of about eight young British-Libyans. After joking about their northern accents he found out that they had never been to Libya before.
"They looked about 17 or 18, maybe one was 20 at most. They had proper Manchester accents," he said. "They were there living and fighting and doing the whole nine yards."
Many Libyan exiles in the UK with links to the LIFG were placed on control orders and subjected to surveillance and monitoring following the rapprochement between the British and Libyan governments sealed by the so-called "Deal in the Desert" between then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Gaddafi in 2004.
Belhaj ruling brings fresh scrutiny on Blair-Gaddafi 'deal in the desert'
According to documents retrieved from the ransacked offices of the Libyan intelligence agency following Gaddafi's fall from power in 2011, British security services cracked down on Libyan dissidents in the UK as part of the deal, as well as assisting in the rendition of two senior LIFG leaders, Abdel Hakim Belhaj and Sami al-Saadi, to Tripoli where they allege they were tortured.
Belhaj later returned to Libya and was a leading figure in the uprising against Gaddafi, while another former Libyan exile subjected to a control order in the UK was later tasked with providing security for visiting dignitaries including British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, MEE understands.
'When the revolution started, things changed'
Ziad Hashem, an LIFG member granted asylum in the UK, said in 2015 that he had been imprisoned for 18 months without charge and then restricted to his home for a further three years based on information he believed had been supplied by Libyan intelligence.
But he said: "When the revolution started, things changed in Britain. Their way of speaking to me and treating me was different. They offered to give me benefits, even indefinite leave to remain or citizenship."
Control orders were introduced as part of counter-terrorism legislation drafted in the aftermath of the 2005 London bombings.
They allowed authorities to restrict the activities of people suspected of involvement in terrorism-related activities by requiring them to remain at a registered address for up to 16 hours a day, subjecting them to electronic tagging, limiting their access to telephone and internet communications, and banning them from meeting or communicating with other people deemed to be of concern.
At least 50 people were subjected to the measure with at least 12 Libyan exiles among them.
Control orders were replaced with Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (TPIMs), which allow authorities to impose many of the same restrictions while limiting their term to two years, in 2011.
The Home Office told MEE it did not comment on individual cases. It said that TPIMs were a robust and effective means for dealing with terrorism suspects who could not be prosecuted or deported.
It said that arrangements involving the police, the Home Office and the Security Service (MI5) had been put in place in 2011 during the transition from control orders to TPIMs to ensure that national security was maintained.The whole Libyan diaspora were out there fighting alongside the rebel groups,
Manchester terror blast: Who did it?
May 23, 2017 NK
Half an hour before the blast, at 10 pm The Sun put out an article ’Jeremy Corbyn might not have planted a bomb but he made it easier for those who did.’ This is unlikely to be a coincidence and the Manchester police need to grill Murdoch about the indication here displayed of foreknowledge.
At 10.33 pm on May 22nd the Ariana Grande blast was reported with 22 dead – one hour before voter registration closed, for the forthcoming election. Then at 2.50 am the next morning this poisonous article also went up onto the Sun’s web-page.
(Image of article)
I suggest that this article was NOT composed in two hours in the middle of the night, i.e. it was pre-prepared before the event.
Its actually quite gratifying to see the unanimous reader comment on this article – ‘disgusting filth’, ‘totally unforgiveable’, ‘a new low even for The Sun’ etc. Also I doubt if it will work – Our Jeremy cannot be destroyed that easily.
This Manchester event just happened to synchronize with the big NATO anti-terror conference in Vienna, ‘Preventing and Countering Violent extremism’ on the 23rd May. What a surprise.
....
They did tell us one thing about him: he was 22 years old. Uh-huh.
The police now tell us that a bankcard was conveniently found in a pocket of the mutated body of the ‘terrorist’ to identify him. Early reports had averred that that US security services in Washington had identified him.
The ‘official ‘ announcement as to who did it had to appear – of course – on the Rita Katz website - at 4.44 am on 23rd of May, US time, i.e. the next morning. Later, a tweet of hers appeared as:
RitaKatz
For years the ardent Zionist Rita Katz has managed the go-to site for fake Islamic terror messages, e.g. it was her site that released or first announced the posthumous Bin Laden tapes.
All videos of the Manchester event show no sign of any explosion. In one, we hear the muffled sound of a slight boom.
You might want to compare what has just happened with last year’s terror drill - on 10th May 2016 inside the Trafford Mall in Manchester.
....
The Number 22
22-07-11 Norway attack
22-05-13 Lee Rigby
22-03-16 Brussels attack
22-07-16 Munich attack
22-03-17 London Westminster attack
22-05-17 Manchester attack
This 22 number is quite interesting but of course the Real 22 Event that this is a homage to, is of course, JFK 22nd November 1963.
Manchester terror blast: Who did it?
May 23, 2017 NK
Half an hour before the blast, at 10 pm The Sun put out an article ’Jeremy Corbyn might not have planted a bomb but he made it easier for those who did.’ This is unlikely to be a coincidence and the Manchester police need to grill Murdoch about the indication here displayed of foreknowledge.
At 10.33 pm on May 22nd the Ariana Grande blast was reported with 22 dead – one hour before voter registration closed, for the forthcoming election. Then at 2.50 am the next morning this poisonous article also went up onto the Sun’s web-page.
(Image of article)
I suggest that this article was NOT composed in two hours in the middle of the night, i.e. it was pre-prepared before the event.
Its actually quite gratifying to see the unanimous reader comment on this article – ‘disgusting filth’, ‘totally unforgiveable’, ‘a new low even for The Sun’ etc. Also I doubt if it will work – Our Jeremy cannot be destroyed that easily.
This Manchester event just happened to synchronize with the big NATO anti-terror conference in Vienna, ‘Preventing and Countering Violent extremism’ on the 23rd May. What a surprise.
....
They did tell us one thing about him: he was 22 years old. Uh-huh.
The police now tell us that a bankcard was conveniently found in a pocket of the mutated body of the ‘terrorist’ to identify him. Early reports had averred that that US security services in Washington had identified him.
The ‘official ‘ announcement as to who did it had to appear – of course – on the Rita Katz website - at 4.44 am on 23rd of May, US time, i.e. the next morning. Later, a tweet of hers appeared as:
RitaKatz
For years the ardent Zionist Rita Katz has managed the go-to site for fake Islamic terror messages, e.g. it was her site that released or first announced the posthumous Bin Laden tapes.
All videos of the Manchester event show no sign of any explosion. In one, we hear the muffled sound of a slight boom.
You might want to compare what has just happened with last year’s terror drill - on 10th May 2016 inside the Trafford Mall in Manchester.
....
The Number 22
22-07-11 Norway attack
22-05-13 Lee Rigby
22-03-16 Brussels attack
22-07-16 Munich attack
22-03-17 London Westminster attack
22-05-17 Manchester attack
This 22 number is quite interesting but of course the Real 22 Event that this is a homage to, is of course, JFK 22nd November 1963.
Indeed there is:
' Sean O’Callaghan Jeremy Corbyn might not have planted a bomb but he made it easier for those who did, says former IRA man
Mum horrified after picture of daughter murdered by ex used in collages of 'missing in Manchester'
Samantha Shrewsbury was shocked to see images of Jayden Parkinson, 17, who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend and dumped in a graveyard, circulating online
Not really relevant here, but makes me wonder if perhaps 'Sean O’Callaghan' was working for the Brits all along... _________________ 'And he (the devil) said to him: To thee will I give all this power, and the glory of them; for to me they are delivered, and to whom I will, I give them'. Luke IV 5-7.
The deployment of thousands of soldiers onto Britain’s streets is only needed because police now lack the resources to defend against a terrorist attack themselves, the chair of the Police Federation has warned.
Steve White, who leads the statutory staff association, said police “simply do not have the resources” to manage a heightened national level of alertness by themselves.
Around 20,000 police officers have been cut since the Conservatives came to power in 2010, with budgets being reduced by 4 per cent every year while Theresa May served as Home Secretary.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the Federation’s Mr White said: “As always, the response of emergency workers in the face of adversity has been second to none.
“The welcome support of the military to free up armed officers and offer public reassurance will no doubt be managed in the same professional, resolute way.
“But, as welcome as this is, we cannot avoid the reasons it is needed at all. There is no ignoring the fact that we, the police, simply do not have the resources to manage an event like this on our own.”
Addressing the Home Secretary Amber Rudd at the Police Federation’s annual conference last week, Mr White had said an attack was a case of "not if, but when" following sharp cuts.
The Government says that crime figures have continued to fall despite the budget cuts. However, police groups have issued repeated warnings that reduce manpower was making it difficult to do jobs.
READ MORE
Manchester bomber's brothers and father arrested
Ukip all but blames May for Manchester bomb attack
Another terrorist attack is imminent, Theresa May says
Police officer killed in Manchester attack named
After the Spring Budget 2016-17 Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd warned that central government cuts were having a serious impact on Manchester’s police service.
“As my report makes clear, this is still very much a ‘cuts budget’. The Chancellor’s plan to protect policing budgets is full of holes, has not been borne out in real terms, and offers no foresight beyond this financial year,” he said at the time.
“To make his sums add up, I have had to increase the amount people pay through their council tax, but even this can’t assuage the impact that cuts have had and continue to have on Greater Manchester’s police service.”
Around 4,000 troops are on standby across the UK to help the policing effort during ‘Operation Temperer’, which is reinforcing police after the terror alert level was raised to critical.
Amber Rudd says crime can still fall while budgets are cuts (Getty)
Speaking earlier in the general election campaign Conservative Home Secretary Amber Rudd refused to rule out further police cuts.
“I think the important statistic is that crime has fallen by 2010 by a third. We believe that we can control the Budget and reduce crime,” she told BBC Radio 4 at the time
After the attack, Ms Rudd said: “We have now gone to a critical level in terms of the threat. Operation Temperer has now been invoked and that means there will be additional military personnel coming to backfill the armed police officers so that they can support other areas.
“Today we have 984 members of military coming forward as requested by the police. They will be initially deployed in London but also elsewhere in the country as requested and they will form an important part of the defence going forward.”
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