Terrorist with alleged links to Manchester Arena suicide bomber Salman Abedi "refusing to co-operate with lawyers", bombing inquiry hears

From the Yorkshire Post andThe Express and Star  Photograph from the Guardian

Abdalraouf Abdallah is refusing to speak to lawyers for the inquiry about his links with the arena suicide bomber Salman Abedi, the hearing in Manchester was told.

Salman’s family in Libya is also refusing to co-operate. 

Salman Abedi visited Abdallah in prison after he was jailed for terrorism offences in 2014 and the pair were in regular telephone contact. The pair discussed martyrdom, the inquiry heard and Salman visited Abdallah at both HMP Belmarsh and HMP Altcourse.

Paul Greaney QC, continuing his opening statement on the third day of the inquiry, said: “We have no doubt he is a witness with important evidence to give. . . Salman Abedi’s relationship with Abdalraouf Abdallah was one of some significance in the period prior to the bombing and we are determined to get to the bottom of it.”

The inquiry was told Abdallah (left), jailed for nine years in 2016 for terror offences, had numerous telephone contacts with Abedi from 2014 . . .  Abdallah, from Manchester, was left wheelchair-bound after he was shot and paralysed from the waist down while fighting in the Libyan uprising and returned to the UK for treatment. In February 2017, three months before the bombing, prison authorities found he had an illicit phone and had tried to make calls to Abedi. The inquiry also heard about Abebi’s connection to Mansoor Al-Anezi, linked to Nicky Reilly who attempted a suicide bombing on a restaurant in Exeter in 2008

The links were a number of matters relating to how Abedi became radicalised, to be explored at the inquiry, Mr Greaney said. They included his education, his friendships and associates and his religious community, including his attendance at Didsbury Mosque,