May 24, 2017•Update: May 25, 2017
By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal
LONDON
The suspected suicide bomber in Monday’s deadly terror attack in Manchester was probably not acting alone and had been known to the authorities “up to a point”, the U.K.’s Home Secretary Amber Rudd said on Wednesday.
Rudd spoke to Sky News after the country’s threat level was upgraded to ‘critical’ from ‘severe’, which means a new attack could be imminent.
With the ‘critical’ level, soldiers will protect some key sites such as Buckingham Palace, Downing Street, embassies and parliament.
Rudd said there was a protocol in place to allow the military to support the police, adding the move would allow police to focus on other areas.
Britain's government “fully expects” this to be temporary, Rudd added.
The Home Secretary said terror specialists made the evaluation after the Monday attack that killed at least 22 people and injured 64 in Manchester.
Twenty of the injured are in a critical condition, health services have said.
The youngest of the four victims who have been identified so far is eight-year-old Saffie Rose Roussos.
British-born Salman Abedi is believed to have been behind the suicide bombing in Manchester Arena. The blast targeted a foyer area as people left a concert by U.S. pop singer Ariana Grande.
The U.K.’s terror threat level has been raised to critical twice before, in 2006 and 2007, and lasted a few days each time.
- Syria link
Meanwhile, speaking to broadcaster BFMTV, French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said the Manchester suspect had probably traveled to Syria, quoting information apparently supplied by the British authorities.
"Today we only know what British investigators have told us -- someone of British nationality, of Libyan origin, who suddenly after a trip to Libya, then probably to Syria, becomes radicalized and decides to carry out this attack," Collomb said.
Asked if he believed Abedi had the support of a network, Collomb said: "That is not known yet, but perhaps. In any case, [he had] links with Daesh that are proven."
The terror group claimed the Manchester attack in an online statement on Tuesday but its involvement has not been verified.
When asked if the Nov. 13, 2015 attacks in Paris which claimed 130 lives could have taken place in England, Collomb said the attackers "had hesitated to hit France or Britain. At the time, Daesh's target was not yet fully determined".
Back in Britain, anti-terror police also arrested a 37-year-old man on Tuesday night at Stansted Airport near London as he tied to board a flight to Turkey.
The man was detained on suspicion of preparing for acts of terrorism, but not in connection with the Manchester bombing, police said.
*Hajer M’tiri contributed to this report from Paris.
