Manchester Arena Inquiry: Bomber's brother will be arrested on return

The brother of the Manchester Arena bomber will be arrested and brought to give evidence to the attack inquiry if he returns to the UK, a judge has said.

Ismail Abedi had been ordered to attend the Manchester Arena Inquiry in October but flew out of the UK beforehand.

The families of those killed said the 28-year-old was a "coward" for fleeing.

At Manchester Civil Justice Centre, inquiry chairman Sir John Saunders was granted permission to issue a bench warrant against Mr Abedi.

A bench warrant is issued by a judge directing that a person be apprehended when they have violated the rules of the court.

In their statement, the bereaved families said they were "shocked" Mr Abedi was allowed to leave a day after he was stopped and questioned by police.

At the justice centre, counsel to the inquiry Paul Greaney QC argued that Mr Abedi had "important" evidence to give on bomber Salman Abedi's path to extremism.

He said the inquiry had heard this week that their father, Ramadan Abedi, was associated with the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, a militia that had links with terror organisation al-Qaeda.

Ismail and Salman Abedi's younger brother Hashem was jailed for life in 2020 for his part in the attack on 22 May 2017, which killed 22 people and injured hundreds more as they left the venue following a concert.

"The question that the inquiry would like to pose is 'was Ramadan Abedi a violent Islamist extremist and, if so, did that rub off on his sons?'," Mr Greaney said.

He said the inquiry also wanted to know if Salman and Hashem Abedi had received military training in Libya after photographs of the pair holding weapons were found on their elder brother's phone.

He told the court there were also questions Ismail Abedi must answer about Salman's increased time with convicted terrorist Abdalraouf Abdallah, who admitted at the inquiry on Thursday that he was in the same Libyan militia group as Ramadan Abedi.

Mr Greaney added that Ismail Abedi also had potential relevant evidence to give on the preparation of his brother's bomb, as his DNA was found on a hammer in a car used to store the explosives.

Rebecca Filletti, appearing for Mr Abedi under his new name of Ben Romdhan, said he was held in custody for two weeks after the attack in 2017 and he was detained again in August this year when his phone was examined, with neither investigation resulting in any criminal charges.

She also urged caution in relation to the hammer evidence, as DNA was transferable and it was a moveable object.

In October, Mr Abedi's lawyers issued a statement in which they said he was unwilling to give evidence and the questions asked by the inquiry were "essentially the same as he was asked by the police".

He added that requiring him to attend the inquiry would place him and his family at risk.

The hearing was told Mr Justice Sweeney's agreement to allow the issuing of a bench warrant would mean Ismail Abedi could face criminal prosecution if he does not attend the inquiry before it ends.

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