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Salman Abedi carried out a deadly suicide bombing at a Manchester pop concert just days after returning from Libya, according to reports.

The 22-year-old's visit to his family's native country fuelled concerns he was preparing for Monday's assault in Britain under the guidance of hardened jihadists.

The Times reported the Manchester-born bomber spent three weeks in the war-torn north African nation before the attack on Manchester Arena, in which he was killed.

A friend told the paper: "He went to Libya three weeks ago and came back recently, like days ago."

Islamic State, who claimed responsibility for the attack, and al-Qaeda have a presence in Libya, but Abedi might have travelled to their heartland in Syria for training.

Prime Minister Theresa May said it was possible he had planned his attack, which killed 22 people and injured 59, with a "wider group of individuals".

Born and raised in Manchester, Abedi grew up in a Muslim household but matured into a university dropout with an appetite for bloodshed.

He was registered as recently as 2016 as living at Elsmore Road, where police raided a downstairs semi-detached property on Tuesday.

Neighbours recalled an abrasive, tall, skinny young man who was little known in the neighbourhood, and often seen in traditional Islamic clothing.

He is thought to have lived at a number of addresses in the area, including one in Wilbraham Road, where plain-clothes police made an arrest on Tuesday.

Abedi previously lived with his mother, Samia Tabbal, father Ramadan Abedi and a brother, Ismail Abedi, who was born in Westminster in 1993.

He is thought to have a younger brother, Hashim Abedi, and a sister, Jomana, whose Facebook profile suggests she is from Tripoli and lives in Manchester.

A family friend, who asked not to be named, said they were known to the city's Libyan community and described Abedi as "normal".

"He was always friendly, nothing to suggest (he was violent). He was normal, to be honest," he said.

Abedi is believed to have attended the Manchester Islamic Centre.

There, he reportedly caught the attention of one imam whom he stared down during a sermon denouncing terrorism.

"Salman showed me a face of hate after that sermon," Mohammed Saeed told The Guardian of the 2015 encounter.

Abedi studied business and management at Salford University two or three years ago, a source said, but did not complete his degree.

Original post:
UK bomb suspect 'just returned from Libya' - SBS

Italy has signed a deal with Libya, Chad and Niger in order to stem the flow of migrants across the Mediterranean through beefed upborder controls and new reception centres in the African nations.

A joint statement by the interior ministers of the four countries said they had agreed to set up centres in Chad and Niger, key transit countries for migrants who travel to Libya and on to Italy from sub-Saharan Africa.

The statement, released Sunday after an Italy-organised meeting in Rome, said the new centres in Chad and Niger, and the existing ones in Libya, would respect international humanitarian standards.

Rights groups have slammed the conditions of existing detention centres in crisis-hit Libya and questioned how the West can ensure such international standards are met and kept.

Libyan legislation criminalises illegal immigration so it is not clear how these could be reception centres and not detention centres, Mattia Toaldo, a European Council on Foreign Relations expert, said Monday.

The establishment of reception centres in Niger and Chad is also questionable: is Europe outsourcing its border control to these countries? If so, in exchange for what amounts of money and coming from where?.

Toaldo also questioned why the deal was made by interior ministers and how they hoped to follow through on a commitment to promote legal economic development as an alternative to the wealthy trafficking trade.

Brink of famine

On Sunday the head of the United Nations refugee agency Filippo Grandi urged Libyan authorities to free all asylum seekers and refugees from its detention centres, slamming the conditions as shocking.

While promising to try to step-up the UNHCRs presence, Grandi said it would take time for political and security reasons.

Libya has long been a stepping stone for migrants seeking a better life in Europe. People smugglers have stepped up their lucrative business in the chaos which has engulfed the country since its 2011 revolution.

Italian police last Monday (15 May) arrested 70 members of the powerful Ndrangheta mafia syndicate, after the gang pocketed 35 million in public funds, with the help of a Catholic charity organisation. EURACTIVs partner Ouest-France reports.

Italy registered nearly 50,000 migrant arrivals by sea by mid-April, 97% of them from Libya, according to Rome.

The Libyan coastguard is believed to have picked up close to 6,000 migrants attempting the perilous crossing this year and returned them to Libya, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Nigerians have made up the largest group of people heading to Italy since January. Two million people are teetering on the brink of famine in the countrys northeast, home to the notoriously ruthless Boko Haram.

The jihadist group launched an uprising there in 2009 which has since spilled over into neighbouring Chad and Niger.

Link:
Italy inks deal with Libya neighbours to stem migrant flow - EURACTIV

The Libya Observer

Video: New operation launched against wholesalers The Libya Observer Large Libyan supermarket chains that were supposed sell their subsidized goods at the cheaper price were only selling some at the lower price and the rest was being sold to Egyptians, as Egyptians would not report such activity to authorities in fear ...

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Video: New operation launched against wholesalers - The Libya Observer

The Libya Observer

Sirraj, Trump meet in Riyadh The Libya Observer Sirraj also held a separate meeting with US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, who reiterated his country's support for an inclusive solution that brings stability again to Libya. In his speech in Riyadh Summit, Sirraj called on the international ... Libyan PM meets Trump in Saudi ArabiaLibyan Express all 2 news articles »

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Sirraj, Trump meet in Riyadh - The Libya Observer

BENGHAZI, Libya A car bomb killed a prominent tribal elder allied to eastern security forces and five other people outside a mosque in a town south of Benghazi as they were leaving afternoon prayers on Friday, a security official said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but rivals of the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) have previously carried out similar attacks in Benghazi targeting figures associated with the LNA.

The blast in Suluq, 31 miles (50 km) south of Benghazi killed Ibrayk Al-Awati, an elder of the Al-Awaqir tribe, and 11 wounded 11 other people, the official said.

The LNA has been fighting a three-year campaign against Islamist militants and other opponents in Benghazi and other parts of eastern Libya.

Images shared on social media showed flames and plumes of black smoke rising from the shell of a car, with debris and blood on the ground nearby.

Libya has been split since 2014 between rival governments aligned with loose and shifting armed alliances based in the east and west of the country.

(Reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Louise Ireland)

DUBAI Iranians yearning for detente abroad and greater freedoms at home have handed President Hassan Rouhani a second term, but the hardline forces he defeated in elections on Friday will remain defiantly opposed to his plans.

HOMS, Syria/BEIRUT Syrian rebels started leaving the last opposition-held district of Homs city on Saturday in the final phase of an evacuation deal that will bring an early center of the uprising back under government control in the conflict's seventh year.

BEIRUT Islamic State militants killed nearly 20 people including two children in a village in Syria's eastern Deir al-Zor province, and captured fighters participating in a U.S.-backed operation against the jihadists, a monitoring group said on Saturday.

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Tribal elder, five others killed by car bomb south of Libya's Benghazi: of... - Reuters