Manchester suicide bomber known to security services on 18 separate occassions

The Manchester Arena bomber had appeared in MI5 investigations on more than 18 separate occasions including for attempts to travel to Syria according to reports at the inquiry.

Information had twice come to MI5’s attention that Salman Abedi wanted to travel to Syria but was “discounted” when he did not go, and they were also told that he held “pro-ISIS views.”

MI5 admitted that information had come to their attention in “mid 2016” that led to them consider re-opening the case, but a meeting was not scheduled to consider doing so until 31 May 2017, nine days after the attack.

The information about Abedi’s links to Syria emerged as MI5 gave its most detailed account of what they knew about the bomber, three years after the attack.

The Security Service also had two further pieces of information which is so critical to the public inquiry it will have to be heard behind closed doors.

MI5 said that it “understands that there will be people who doubt that it has disclosed everything” to the inquiry into the bombing which killed 22 people in May 2017.

Cathryn McGahey QC, for the Security Service, said “the very nature of MI5’s work is secretive and the fact that we cannot make everything public inevitably increases suspicion.”