A UK court has issued an arrest warrant for Ismail Abedi, the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber after he failed to appear at the inquiry into the attack
Ismail, whose whereabouts are currently unknown refused to cooperate with the inquiry into the attack. He was initially supposed to appear at Manchester Magistrates’ Court in July, but did not turn up. He fled the UK in 2021, and has not returned.
A British Judge has found Salman Abedi’s older brother “guilty of failing without reasonable excuse to do something required at a hearing on 14 July.” He faces up to 51 weeks in jail for the offence, if he is captured or hands himself in.
A total of 22 people were killed and hundreds injured when his brother, Salman detonated a bomb at the end of an Ariana Grande concert on 22 May 2017.
Ismail was stopped by police at Manchester Airport on 28 August 2021. He told them he was planning to return to the country the following month – but never did.
His father, Ramadan was associated with the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), a militia that had links with Al-Qaida, the public inquiry heard.
Hashem Abedi, 24, was jailed for life for the 22 murders, by assisting with the bomb plot. Ismail has denied any involvement with the attack.
He previously said he did not want to attend the inquiry because he was “worried about the risk of self-incrimination, had already been questioned at length by the police, and was concerned for the safety of himself and his family.”