Manchester Arena bomber and brother 'were seen with convicted terrorist'

ashem Abedi, younger brother of the Manchester Arena bomber, in the dock at the Old Bailey
PA Wire/PA Images
Ellena Cruse10 February 2020
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The Manchester Arena suicide bomber and his brother gave up their education, became more radicalised and began to be seen with a convicted terrorist, a court has heard.

Adel Forjani, 49, an uncle of Salman and Hashem Abedi, told the jury he took a lease on a barber’s shop where his sons worked, near where his family and the Abedis lived in Manchester.

The Abedi brothers visited the shop and convicted terrorist Abdalraouf Abdallah was seen with them at the premises in Moss Side, Mr Forjani said.

The jury heard that Abdallah, from Manchester, was left in a wheelchair after being shot in the Libyan uprising, and was later convicted of terror offences in the UK.

Elizabeth Cook/PA

Speaking through an Arabic interpreter, Mr Forjani, who came to the UK as a Libyan refugee in 1994, said he told his sons he did not want them to associate with Abdallah.

He said: “I told them that I did not want him to come back to the shop and not mingle with them, when my son told me this man had Isis way of thinking.”

Mr Forjani, married to the sister of the Abedis’ mother, said the brothers’ parents left to live in Libya around six months before the Arena bombing, leaving the two youngest brothers home alone, and their behaviour began to change and they began wearing traditional Islamic dress.

He said their parents made a visit back to the UK in April 2017, because their sons had “started to have unacceptable behaviour”.

The scene close to the Manchester Arena after the terror attack
PA

He added: “They started to be radicalised, they were into drugs and they left their education, that’s as far as I know.”

The jury has heard Salman and Hashem Abedi were bought one-way tickets to Libya but Salman returned to the UK later to carry out the suicide bombing on May 22 2017.

Hashem denies having any knowledge of his brother’s plans and denies all charges.

Mr Forjani said the brothers had attended a mosque in Rusholme, near their home in south Manchester, which did not tolerate extremist views.

A few months before the bombing they changed to another mosque in Whalley Range, the jury heard.

Mr Forjani’s son Alharth, 21, described how his cousin Hashem asked him to help buy an ingredient of TATP explosives, saying it was for his car.

Hashem Abedi, the brother of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi
PA

In January 2017, Hashem Abedi came to his door as Salman sat in a car outside, jurors heard.

The witness said: “He wanted me to buy something on Amazon for him. It was quick. I made a purchase for him and that’s it.”

Prosecutor Duncan Penny QC asked if Hashem Abedi told him why he wanted help with the order.

Mr Forjani Jnr replied: “He did not tell me and I did not ask him. He told me it was acid for his car. I trusted him, basically.”

Mr Penny asked: “What did you think you were buying sulphuric acid for?”

Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Hashem Abedi
PA Wire/PA Images

The witness replied: “It was for his car. That’s what he told me.”

The court has heard thjat Mr Forjani Jnr, then aged 18, allowed Abedi to use his account to purchase a litre of sulphuric acid, at 95% strength, which was delivered to Mr Forjani’s address.

Hashem Abedi allegedly collected the order, giving Mr Forjani £15.75 for the acid and £14.46 for shipping.

Additional reporting by Press Association.

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