The family of the Manchester Arena suicide bomber reportedly warned authorities he was “dangerous”, a US intelligence official has claimed.
Salman Abedi detonated a homemade device as crowds left an Ariana Grande concert, killing 22 people and leaving 64 injured.
He was reportedly known to police and intelligence services and members of his family had even warned authorities about him in the past, a US intelligence official told NBC News.
It was unclear which members of his family had approached authorities but his father Ramadan Abedi is understood to have protested his innocence after Monday’s attack.
Mr Abedi said that he had spoken to his 22-year-old son, Salman, five days ago. He added that he was getting ready to visit Saudi Arabia and sounded "normal”.
He said that his son visited Libya a month-and-a-half ago.
The elder Abedi, speaking to the Associated Press by telephone from the Libyan capital of Tripoli, said: "We don't believe in killing innocents. This is not us."
It came as a spokesperson for the Manchester Islamic Centre denied Abedi had been radicalised at the mosque.
“Some media reports have reported that the bomber worked at the manchester islamic centre.
This is not true. I assure everyone, listeners, viewers in the UK, around the UK, this bomber has never worked in this centre,” he said.
“We express concern that a small section, a very small section, of the media are manufacturing stories and making unfounded points without any verification or context or collaboration.”
