- Title: Manchester bomber's father certain son did not carry out attack
- Date: 24th May 2017
- Summary: TRIPOLI, LIBYA (MAY 24, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FATHER OF MANCHESTER BOMBER, RAMADAN ABEDI WITH CELL PHONE IN HAND SPEAKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FATHER OF MANCHESTER SUICIDE BOMBER SALMAN ABEDI, RAMADAN ABEDI, SAYING: "In the beginning one of the girls went online and she saw the news that Salman was accused of the bombing in Manchester. I turned on the TV and saw BBC World, I followed the news, they said it was only a suspicion and I was waiting for more news until the morning, but they didn't broadcast anything more. The second day at around noon, at one o'clock in the afternoon I saw the news that Salman Abedi was suspected. In fact I didn't expect that to happen, ever, he wasn't, he didn't say that he was going to Manchester to stay in Manchester, he said that he was going to Umrah, that he got a special offer, then I heard what the Chief Executive of Manchester said, he said that 'we suspect Salman'. They suspected Salman Abedi from 21 Elsmore road, which is where we lived. The security forces raided the home and broke down the door, scaring the neighbours, and they thought that the house contained explosives, even spreading a rumour that it had, but there weren't any. Even the police said there were no explosives. This is what we heard." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FATHER OF MANCHESTER SUICIDE BOMBER SALMAN ABEDI, RAMADAN ABEDI, SAYING: "Salman was studying in Northenden college in south Manchester, he didn't have any problems and he passed his two years with high marks, I spoke to him about five days ago." (REPORTER ASKS: How was the conversation?) RAMADAN ABEDI: "There was nothing wrong, everything was normal, he was going to Umrah." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FATHER OF MANCHESTER SUICIDE BOMBER SALMAN ABEDI, RAMADAN ABEDI, SAYING: "Salman doesn't belong to any organization, and I know that he doesn't belong to any, there was nothing hidden, because I had open discussions with him about anything he wanted to understand." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FATHER OF MANCHESTER SUICIDE BOMBER SALMAN ABEDI, RAMADAN ABEDI, SAYING: "The situation is normal but the family is a bit confused because Salman doesn't have this ideology, he doesn't believe in these beliefs." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FATHER OF MANCHESTER SUICIDE BOMBER SALMAN ABEDI, RAMADAN ABEDI, SAYING: "I'm sure that Salman didn't carry out such an act but there are hidden hands behind this, security authorities doing something against the Libyan community especially the youth there." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FATHER OF MANCHESTER SUICIDE BOMBER SALMAN ABEDI, RAMADAN ABEDI, SAYING: "He didn't travel, the proof is that I checked his two passports and there wasn't anything in them, he didn't travel to Syria." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FATHER OF MANCHESTER SUICIDE BOMBER SALMAN ABEDI, RAMADAN ABEDI, SAYING: "I condemn anyone who says I belong to the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, I commend them, but I don't belong to any organization, and I was able to join any organizations and the British government knows this, they know that I don't belong to any organization." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FATHER OF MANCHESTER SUICIDE BOMBER SALMAN ABEDI, RAMADAN ABEDI, SAYING: "I'm in a state that only God can feel, the whole family feels bad, because even the Chief Executive of Manchester said they were not sure, but they were pointing the finger at Salman. We don't know where Salman is until now." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FATHER OF MANCHESTER SUICIDE BOMBER SALMAN ABEDI, RAMADAN ABEDI, SAYING: "I want to add that we're not a part of these acts, we lived in this society, the English society and even my neighbours on the BBC praised me and my son and my family. And they know me and my sons well. For this reason we didn't expect that the security forces would do something like this (attack on the house)." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FATHER OF MANCHESTER SUICIDE BOMBER SALMAN ABEDI, RAMADAN ABEDI, SAYING: "We condemn these terrorist acts on civilians, innocent people."
- Embargoed: 7th June 2017 21:17
- Keywords: UK Manchester bombing interview Tripoli Father of suicide bomber Salman Abedi
- Location: TRIPOLI, LIBYA
- City: TRIPOLI, LIBYA
- Country: Libya
- Topics: Bombing (non-military),Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA0016I79RUV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDIT CONTAINS WHITE FLASH IN LIEU OF CUTAWAYS
The father of the bomber who killed 22 concert-goers in an attack in Manchester told Reuters in the Libyan capital on Wednesday (May 24) that he had last spoken to his son some five days ago, by phone, and "everything was normal."
Ramadan Abedi, who was detained by a Tripoli counter-terrorism force during the interview, said his son Salman had told his family that he was heading on pilgrimage to Mecca.
Abedi said he was sure that Salman had not been a member of Islamic State, or any other organization.
"The family is a bit confused because Salman doesn't have this ideology, he doesn't believe in these beliefs," Abedi said, adding that they condemned the attacks on innocent civilians.
While Reuters was interviewing Abedi, several unmarked vehicles carrying heavily armed Rada forces drove up to the family home in the Tripoli suburb of Ayn Zara and detained him. Rada did not give a reason for his arrest.
Rada is one of the largest of the armed groups that have held power on the ground in Tripoli since the 2011 uprising that overthrew Gaddafi. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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