Bomber visited jihadi in jail in Liverpool
THE Manchester bomber Salman Abedi made repeated prison visits to a convicted Libyan jihadist in the months leading to the attack.
The terrorist regularly went to see Abdalraouf Abdallah, who was jailed after trying to help other Manchester-based fanatics join extremists in Syria.
Abedi, 22, visited Altcourse Prison in Liverpool up to three times this year. His last trip was in March, but it is understood it was not ‘red flagged’ because Abedi was not on a terror watch list. However, he was ‘known’ to British Home Secuirty agency MI5 and other security services, and his frequent visits to a convicted jihadist raise questions about why authorities did not take more notice.
It was also claimed yesterday that Abedi was reported five times to a terror hotline as a possible threat but nothing was done.
Prison sources said wheelchairbound Abdallah, 24, is in an isolated unit for his safety as police try to establish whether the visits were in any way linked to Abedi’s suicide attack on May 22.
Abdallah, of Manchester’s Moss Side, is the son of a Libyan dissident and arrived to Britain with his family as a refugee in 1993. He was jailed for five-and-a-half years last year after being convicted of helping other jihadists travel to Syria and providing funds for terrorism.
Abdallah travelled to Libya in 2010 and is said to have joined Islamist group the 17th February Martyr’s Brigade which includes fighters linked to Al Qaeda. He was shot in the 2011 uprising and left paraplegic, before returning to the UK.
It is understood Abedi visited Abdallah last year as well. A source close to the prison said: ‘Salman Abedi met Abdallah not long before the bombing and regularly in previous months, always being referenced as a “friend” on the visitation order form.’
The source said the prison did not investigate or monitor the visits.
Greater Manchester Police and G4S, which runs Altcourse Prison, declined to comment. A British Ministry of Justice spokesman would not comment ‘due to the ongoing police investigation’.
Scotland Yard said it would be ‘inappropriate’ to comment on whether information was received.