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| Britain Says It Has ‘Large Part’ of Manchester Bomber’s Network | Britain Says It Has ‘Large Part’ of Manchester Bomber’s Network |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| MANCHESTER, England — British officials expressed confidence on Friday that they had rounded up the bulk of the Manchester bomber’s associates, and that their efforts to avert a follow-up attack appeared to be succeeding. | MANCHESTER, England — British officials expressed confidence on Friday that they had rounded up the bulk of the Manchester bomber’s associates, and that their efforts to avert a follow-up attack appeared to be succeeding. |
| “We’ve got hold of a large part of the network behind Manchester bombing,” said Mark Rowley, the top counterterrorism official for the Metropolitan Police in London. | |
| Eight men, ages 18 to 38, were in custody, and searches were still taking place at 12 locations in the Manchester area, the city’s top police official, Chief Constable Ian Hopkins, said at a news conference. “There has been enormous progress with the investigation, but there’s still an awful lot of work to do,” he said. | Eight men, ages 18 to 38, were in custody, and searches were still taking place at 12 locations in the Manchester area, the city’s top police official, Chief Constable Ian Hopkins, said at a news conference. “There has been enormous progress with the investigation, but there’s still an awful lot of work to do,” he said. |
| The latest raids occurred on Friday morning at a barbershop in the Moss Side neighborhood and at a pizza restaurant in St. Helens, a town about 22 miles west of Manchester. | The latest raids occurred on Friday morning at a barbershop in the Moss Side neighborhood and at a pizza restaurant in St. Helens, a town about 22 miles west of Manchester. |
| Normal rhythms began to resume across Britain, even though the nation was on its highest level of alert — “critical,” meaning another attack could be “expected imminently” — and was to remain so at least through the weekend. Public events, including the Great Manchester Run, a 10-kilometer race and half-marathon in the city that is scheduled for Sunday, will take place as planned. Hundreds of soldiers have been deployed to protect important sites around the country and to give relief to police forces. | Normal rhythms began to resume across Britain, even though the nation was on its highest level of alert — “critical,” meaning another attack could be “expected imminently” — and was to remain so at least through the weekend. Public events, including the Great Manchester Run, a 10-kilometer race and half-marathon in the city that is scheduled for Sunday, will take place as planned. Hundreds of soldiers have been deployed to protect important sites around the country and to give relief to police forces. |
| Campaigning for the country’s parliamentary election has resumed, and with polls showing the race tightening, the opposition Labour Party opened a line of criticism, asserting that Prime Minister Theresa May, who was previously the home secretary, and the governing Conservative Party had made Britain more vulnerable by pursuing a bellicose foreign policy and by cutting security budgets at home. | Campaigning for the country’s parliamentary election has resumed, and with polls showing the race tightening, the opposition Labour Party opened a line of criticism, asserting that Prime Minister Theresa May, who was previously the home secretary, and the governing Conservative Party had made Britain more vulnerable by pursuing a bellicose foreign policy and by cutting security budgets at home. |
| “Many experts, including professionals in our intelligence and security services, have pointed to the connections between wars our government has supported or fought in other countries, such as Libya, and terrorism here at home,” the Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, said in a speech. | “Many experts, including professionals in our intelligence and security services, have pointed to the connections between wars our government has supported or fought in other countries, such as Libya, and terrorism here at home,” the Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, said in a speech. |
| Defense Secretary Michael Fallon retorted that Mr. Corbyn was unfit to be prime minister. “He said only days after one of the worst terrorist atrocities this country has ever known that terror attacks in Britain are our own fault,” Mr. Fallon declared. | Defense Secretary Michael Fallon retorted that Mr. Corbyn was unfit to be prime minister. “He said only days after one of the worst terrorist atrocities this country has ever known that terror attacks in Britain are our own fault,” Mr. Fallon declared. |
| Mrs. May, speaking in Sicily at a G-7 summit meeting attended by President Trump, said Mr. Abedi’s ties to Libya “undoubtedly shine a spotlight on this largely ungoverned space on the edge of Europe.” | Mrs. May, speaking in Sicily at a G-7 summit meeting attended by President Trump, said Mr. Abedi’s ties to Libya “undoubtedly shine a spotlight on this largely ungoverned space on the edge of Europe.” |
| The bomber, Salman Abedi, 22, a native of Manchester, killed 22 people and injured at least 70 others on Monday night when he blew himself up as a pop concert by the American singer Ariana Grande was ending at Manchester Arena. | The bomber, Salman Abedi, 22, a native of Manchester, killed 22 people and injured at least 70 others on Monday night when he blew himself up as a pop concert by the American singer Ariana Grande was ending at Manchester Arena. |
| Mr. Abedi was from the city’s large Libyan community, his parents having fled the regime of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in the early 1990s. The family returned to Libya — only temporarily, in the case of Salman and his elder brother — after Britain, France and the United States led a NATO campaign that helped topple Qaddafi in 2011. | Mr. Abedi was from the city’s large Libyan community, his parents having fled the regime of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in the early 1990s. The family returned to Libya — only temporarily, in the case of Salman and his elder brother — after Britain, France and the United States led a NATO campaign that helped topple Qaddafi in 2011. |
| The authorities have been scrambling to find out whether the bomber, Mr. Abedi, 22, received help; how the bomb was built; and whether there were plans for another attack. There were many lingering worries on Friday, most gravely the possibility that Mr. Abedi might have assembled sufficient explosive material to produce a second bomb. | The authorities have been scrambling to find out whether the bomber, Mr. Abedi, 22, received help; how the bomb was built; and whether there were plans for another attack. There were many lingering worries on Friday, most gravely the possibility that Mr. Abedi might have assembled sufficient explosive material to produce a second bomb. |
| Mr. Abedi opened a bank account a year ago, drew money from it to buy nails and screws from two hardware stores, and rented an apartment where he assembled the bomb, a law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the authorities have prohibited unauthorized disclosures of investigative details, said on Friday. “There was so much material left behind that it clearly could have been turned into at least one other bomb,” the official said. | Mr. Abedi opened a bank account a year ago, drew money from it to buy nails and screws from two hardware stores, and rented an apartment where he assembled the bomb, a law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the authorities have prohibited unauthorized disclosures of investigative details, said on Friday. “There was so much material left behind that it clearly could have been turned into at least one other bomb,” the official said. |
| Some details about the bank account, the hardware items and the apartment were first reported by The Times of London and The Telegraph on Friday. | Some details about the bank account, the hardware items and the apartment were first reported by The Times of London and The Telegraph on Friday. |
| According to an American congressman, Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican who is chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, the bomber’s backpack was most likely loaded with TATP, or triacetone triperoxide, the explosive used in attacks in London in 2005, in Paris in 2015 and in Brussels in 2016. | According to an American congressman, Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican who is chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, the bomber’s backpack was most likely loaded with TATP, or triacetone triperoxide, the explosive used in attacks in London in 2005, in Paris in 2015 and in Brussels in 2016. |
| A security minister, Ben Wallace, told CNN: “We are following up on the network, rolling it up, trying to contain it. As you’ve seen from the number of arrests, we are on the right track to try to contain it. In the end you get to the bottom of a network.” | A security minister, Ben Wallace, told CNN: “We are following up on the network, rolling it up, trying to contain it. As you’ve seen from the number of arrests, we are on the right track to try to contain it. In the end you get to the bottom of a network.” |
| The domestic intelligence agency MI5, which is facing scrutiny over warnings it had been given about Mr. Abedi’s descent into radicalization, said this week that it was dealing with about 500 active investigations relating to 3,000 people of interest and that it had foiled 18 plots of varying seriousness since 2013, including five since March. | The domestic intelligence agency MI5, which is facing scrutiny over warnings it had been given about Mr. Abedi’s descent into radicalization, said this week that it was dealing with about 500 active investigations relating to 3,000 people of interest and that it had foiled 18 plots of varying seriousness since 2013, including five since March. |
| Prime Minister May, among other British officials, expressed frustration with the American government after several American news organizations published unauthorized details of the investigation. (The New York Times published images of a battery, a backpack and shrapnel from the attack, but did not disclose the source of the information.) | Prime Minister May, among other British officials, expressed frustration with the American government after several American news organizations published unauthorized details of the investigation. (The New York Times published images of a battery, a backpack and shrapnel from the attack, but did not disclose the source of the information.) |
| Along with the raids that continued on Friday, investigators returned to a building in Manchester’s city center, where Mr. Abedi had rented a one-bedroom apartment for 75 pounds, or about $96, a night. The building, Granby House, on Granby Row, is a 1908 red brick building with Portland stone dressing and Art Nouveau motifs. | |
| Mr. Abedi returned to Britain on May 18 from a visit to his parents in Libya, having traveled through Istanbul and Düsseldorf, Germany. He visited a shopping center near his home on May 19, where he was recorded on CCTV buying a Karrimor backpack used in the attack. Investigators say Mr. Abedi brought hardware items he had bought from two chain stores, B&Q and Screwfix, to the apartment over the weekend. | Mr. Abedi returned to Britain on May 18 from a visit to his parents in Libya, having traveled through Istanbul and Düsseldorf, Germany. He visited a shopping center near his home on May 19, where he was recorded on CCTV buying a Karrimor backpack used in the attack. Investigators say Mr. Abedi brought hardware items he had bought from two chain stores, B&Q and Screwfix, to the apartment over the weekend. |
| On Friday, officers in forensic suits could be seen rummaging through large garbage bins in the building’s basement. | On Friday, officers in forensic suits could be seen rummaging through large garbage bins in the building’s basement. |
| Like other police officials, Mr. Rowley, of the Metropolitan Police, would not divulge specifics, but he said in a statement: “Broadly speaking, as with any investigation of this nature, we are focusing on understanding Abedi’s life; forensically examining a number of scenes, reviewing hours of CCTV from the night itself and the hours and before, financial work, communication, digital exhibits, the accounts from hundreds of witnesses and of course inquiries internationally.” | Like other police officials, Mr. Rowley, of the Metropolitan Police, would not divulge specifics, but he said in a statement: “Broadly speaking, as with any investigation of this nature, we are focusing on understanding Abedi’s life; forensically examining a number of scenes, reviewing hours of CCTV from the night itself and the hours and before, financial work, communication, digital exhibits, the accounts from hundreds of witnesses and of course inquiries internationally.” |
| At an afternoon news conference, Chief Constable Hopkins said that hundreds of police officers from around Britain were involved in the investigation. “We have seized thousands of exhibits that are now being assessed,” he said. | |
| The last of the 22 victims has been publicly identified as Megan Hurley, a 15-year-old from Halewood, near Liverpool. She had attended the concert with her older brother, who was injured. | The last of the 22 victims has been publicly identified as Megan Hurley, a 15-year-old from Halewood, near Liverpool. She had attended the concert with her older brother, who was injured. |