Police arrest 14th man in Manchester bombing inquiry

By Gregory Katz, Associated Press

Monday, May 29, 2017 | 6:40 a.m.

LONDON — British police arrested a 23-year-old man Monday on the south coast of England, hundreds of miles south of Manchester, in the widening inquiry into the deadly concert bombing.

Greater Manchester Police said the man was arrested in Shoreham-by-Sea on suspicion of terrorism offenses and an address there was being searched.

The arrest means that 14 men are now in custody in Britain for suspected roles in the May 22 bombing of an Ariana Grande concert that killed 22 people and wounded nearly 120 others. It was Britain's worst attack in a decade.

The suspects have not been identified or charged. All are being held on suspicion of violating the Terrorism Act.

Police and security services have said very little about the network believed to be behind suicide bomber Salman Abedi, a Manchester native whose parents had moved to Britain from Libya. Abedi's elder brother Ismail is among the suspects being held in Britain, and a younger brother and Abedi's father have been detained in Libya.

Britain's intelligence services have launched an inquiry into how warnings about the 22-year-old Abedi's radical views were handled amid indications that vital warning signs were missed.

Police are scouring 12,960 hours of closed circuit TV recordings in their search for clues, have collected more than 630 pieces of evidence and have searched 21 addresses.

Authorities say Abedi returned to Britain from Libya on May 18, and likely completed assembling his bomb at a rented apartment in central Manchester.

Britain's official terror threat level was set at "critical" in the days after the attack but was downgraded Saturday to "severe." The country remains on high alert, however, as officials caution that some suspects who helped Abedi may still be at large.