The parents of Manchester Arena terror bomber Salman Abedi are 'keeping a low profile' in Libya where they are under 'constant' surveillance by Libyan authorities, it has today been reported.
Ramadan Abedi and Samia Tabbal left the UK for Libya four weeks before their son carried out the deadly 2017 suicide bombing, which killed 22 people and injured hundreds of others.
Ramadan, who was arrested and later released by Libyan authorities in the awake of the attack, remains a suspect in the UK police investigation, along with wife Samia.
A Libyan national, Ramadan fought against the Gaddafi regime with a militant group once designated a terror organisation by the US.
Yesterday, at the inquiry into the attack, a senior director general of MI5, said Islamist bomber Abedi was 'likely' to have been influenced in his views by his father.
Salman's brother, Hashem Abedi, is in prison for life for assisting in the terror attack at the end of an Ariana Grande concert. His other brother, Ismail, recently left the UK after being called to give evidence at the inquiry in the attack.
The claim was made as the security chief, referred to only as Witness J, also told the inquiry that there were missed opportunities to stop Salman at Manchester Airport four days before the attack.
Ramadan Abedi and Samia Tabbal left the UK for Libya four weeks before their son Salman (pictured left) carried out the deadly 2017 suicide bombing, which killed 22 people and injured hundreds of others. Ramadan (pictured right), who was arrested and later released by Libyan authorities in the awake of the attack, remains a suspect in the UK police investigation, along with wife Samia
Salman's brother, Hashem Abedi, is in prison for life for assisting in the terror attack at the end of an Ariana Grande concert. His other brother, Ismail, recently left the UK after being called to give evidence to the inquiry in the attack.
Hashem Abedi
Hashem Abedi helped his suicide bomber brother Salman plan the sick attack on 22 innocent people attending an Ariana Grande concert in May 2017.
Hashem Abedi
He helped build the bomb which his brother detonated at the concert.
Manchester-born Abedi was in Libya when the bomb went off and was arrested there and extradited to the UK.
Prior to the attack, the college drop-out, who worked as a takeaway driver, started asking the owner of the restaurant he was working for if he could take the metal vegetable oil cans away for scrap.
Hashem and Salman started using them to test homemade explosives they were experimenting with at their property on Elsmore Road, Manchester.
Hashem was jailed for life, with a minimum term of 55 years, after being convicted of 22 counts of murder.
He has refused to co-operate with the inquiry.
Ramandan Abedi
The father of the pair responsible for the Manchester Arena bombings is a Libyan-British national who fought against the Gaddafi regime in with militant group Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) - which was designated a terrorist organisation by the US. It was removed from the UK's proscribed terror group list in November 2019.
Ramadan Abedi
He was arrested in Libya alongside Hashem, but was released without charge.
In Manchester, Ramadan, worked as a security officer, and was assigned the role of muezzin at Didsbury mosque and calling out prayer five times a day.
In 2011, Ramadan he travelled back to Libya to fight in a civil war, reports the Guardian.
Shortly before he was arrested in Libya in 2017 he 'condemned' terrorist attacks on civilians.
He still lives in Libya and has refused to co-operate with the inquiry.
Samia Abedi
Samia Abedi is the mother of the brothers involved in the Manchester Arena bombing.
Little is known about her background, other than that she lived with Ramadan in south Manchester for more than a decade and that all of the pair's children were enrolled in schools in the UK.
She is known to have left the UK in 2016, though continued to receive tax credits, child and housing benefit of about £550 a week, even though she left the UK for Libya in October 2016.
During Hashem's trial, it was heard how her two sons used her bank card to buy a battery and other items before the 2017 attack.
Her bank statements showed a series of large cash withdrawals of between £50 and £300 each month in the UK after she left the country.
She still lives in Libya and has refused to co-operate with the inquiry.
Joamana Abedi
Little is known about Joamana Abedi, the sister of the pair involved in the Manchester Arena bombings.
The 21-year-old is known to be living in Libya and has refused to co-operate with the inquiry.
In 2017, she gave an interview after the attack in which she described her brother as 'kind and loving and that she was surprised by what he did.
She said he may have carried out the attack because he wanted revenge for US air strikes on Syria.
Ismail Abedi
Ismail Abedi
The eldest of the brothers, Ismail Abedi up until recently was still living in Manchester.
He has previously apologised for the actions of his brothers.
In an interview with Sky News he said he had 'no idea his brothers had taken this path'.
'I want to apologise on behalf of my family to the victims, for all the pain Hashem and Salman caused,' he said.
On his brother's life sentence, Ismail, who has a wife and child, added: 'I'm glad this has happened because I can put it all behind me, get on with my life and look after my family.'
But he has refused to co-operate with the inquiry into the attack. He asked to strike a deal with officials for immunity from prosecution in return for his evidence at the inquiry - a deal that was declined by officials. He left the UK days before he had been called to give evidence at the inquiry.
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The bomber was was taken to Libya by his parents in April 2017 on a one-way ticket, but returned to the UK on May 18 2017, four days before his attack.
Witness J agreed that Abedi should have been put on a 'ports action list' to alert the police when he returned from Libya.
'It would have been the better course of action,' he said.
'We were relying on investigators to make judgements about who should go on to some form of ports action and we've since then standardised the approach.
'I think that would have been a stronger process had we introduced it before then.'
Despite denying any knowledge of the attack, Ramadan is a suspect in the ongoing police investigation into the Manchester Arena bombing.
His fingerprints were found inside a car used by his sons to store explosives and bomb-making material. He and his wife have both refused to co-operate with the inquiry into the attack.
Ramadan is currently living with Samia in their family home on the outskirts of the Libyan capital Tripoli
Libya's foreign minister Najla El-Mangoush told the BBC authorities in Libya and in Britain are in contact with the Abedi family.
Ms El-Mangoush, who is British born, told the broadcaster: 'I think there is collaboration between the general attorney office, and some figures in England related to this issue
'I am not sure if there is any positive outcome. We respect the judicial system and we don't want to interfere, but also we are willing to collaborate from a political perspective if there is anything we can do from our side.'
Libya extradited Hashem Abedi to the UK in 2019. He was jailed for life, with a minimum term of 55 years, for the murder of 22 people after he was found to have helped his brother in planning of the attack.
Yesterday, Witness J told the inquiry that it was 'likely' that Ramadan 'shaped' his son Salman's extremist beliefs.
The MI5 officer also revealed how security services were aware that Salman had links to a serious crime gang in the city prior to the attack.
The inquiry heard from Witness J how MI5 came close to reopening an investigation into Salman's terror links.
A meeting was due to take place nine days after Salman carried out the attack, the inquiry heard.
The evidence, given from behind a specially made wooden screen to protect the MI5 officer's identity, was heard at the ongoing inquiry into the terror attack.
The inquiry is examining whether a probe into Salman should have been re-opened as a subject of interest in 2016, prior to the atrocity.
As part of the inquiry officials have been attempting to obtain evidence from friends and family members about Salman's background and how he came to be
