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Royal Navy rescued accused Ariana Grande gig suicide bomber three years before attack

Media report says Salman Abedi, who is suspected of killing 22 people at the concert in Manchester in 2017, was among more than 100 British citizens picked up from the Libyan coast by a navy ship

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Manchester-born Salman Abedi, suspect in the attack on a concert by US pop star Ariana Grande on May 22, 2017. Photo: AFP

Britain’s Royal Navy rescued the Manchester Arena suicide bomber and his younger brother from the war in Libya three years before he killed 22 people at the Ariana Grande pop concert.

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British newspaper the Daily Mail reported on Tuesday that the HMS Enterprise picked up Salman Abedi and more than 100 other British citizens from the Libyan coast and took them to Malta, where they flew back to the UK.

Still image from a video showing people fleeing Manchester Arena on May 22, 2017. Photo: Twitter/Hannawwh/Reuters
Still image from a video showing people fleeing Manchester Arena on May 22, 2017. Photo: Twitter/Hannawwh/Reuters

Abedi, a 22-year-old Briton of Libyan descent, blew himself up as fans were leaving Grande’s concert at Manchester Arena on May 22, 2017.

Twenty-two concertgoers were killed, and police say more than 800 people were left “with physical and deep psychological injuries”.

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Abedi’s brother, Hashem, is in jail in Libya. British government requests for his extradition to face trial have been refused.

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