- Manchester police want Hashem Abedi to be extradited to Britain. His brother Salman killed 22 people in a suicide attack in April. Abedi is being held by a Libyan militia group. Media reports have suggested they will not return him.
The brother of the suicide bomber who killed 22 people in a terror attack on an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester should be extradited to Britain, police have said.
Officers from Greater Manchester Police investigating the attack on the Manchester Arena this April want to bring Hashem Abedi to the UK, and have been granted a warrant for his arrest.
Abedi, whose brother Salman carried out the attack by detonating a backpack filled with shrapnel and high explosives, is currently under arrest in Libya.
Manchester police want Abedi in connection with charges of murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy to cause an explosion.
Greater Manchester Police said Libyan authorities are "considering" the extradition request.
According to the BBC, Abedi is currently being held by a militia group in Libya, raising the question of whether the fragmented government in the country could hand over Abedi even if it wanted to.
The day after the request was made, Sky News tweeted that a spokesman for the militia holding Abedi had turned down the request.
Spokesman for the Libyan armed group holding the brother of the Manchester suicide bomber says it will not extradite Hashem Abedi to the UK
— Sky News Breaking (@SkyNewsBreak) November 2, 2017
Greater Manchester Police declined to comment on the development.
Police revealed the extradition request as part of a more general update on their investigation into the terror attack.
They have arrested a total of 23 people, searched 30 properties, seized 11,000 pieces of evidence, 16 terrabytes of data, and 16,000 hours of CCTV footage.