Terrorist denies grooming Salman Abedi into extremism before suicide bomber ...

Terrorist denies grooming Salman Abedi into extremism before suicide bomber ...
Terrorist denies grooming Salman Abedi into extremism before suicide bomber ...
Convicted terrorist denies grooming friend Salman Abedi into extremism before suicide bomber murdered 22 people at Manchester Arena - despite exchanging 1,000 messages before the attack Abdalraouf Abdallah, 28, was granted asylum in UK after fleeing Libya in the '90s He helped four men travel to Syria - where three of them fought for Islamic State Abdallah's phone was seized when he was arrested in late November 2014 Analysis revealed more than 1,000 message exchanges with Salman Abedi Abedi went on to carry out the terror attack at the Manchester Arena in 2017 

View
comments

A convicted terrorist has denied grooming Manchester Arena attacker Salman Abedi into extremism despite exchanging messages with him about martyrdom before the suicide bombing.   

The family of Abdalraouf Abdallah, 28, had fled Libya in the early 1990s and were granted asylum in the UK, moving to South Manchester along with Abedi's family, who also opposed the regime of Colonel Gaddafi at the time. 

Abdallah, a paraplegic who was injured fighting against Gaddafi's forces in 2011, was convicted of preparing and funding acts of terrorism in 2016 after helping four men from Manchester travel to Syria - where three of them fought for Islamic State.

Abdallah received an extended sentence of nine-and-a-half years with a custodial term of five-and-a-half years. 

His mobile phone was seized when he was arrested in late November 2014 on suspicion of those offences and later analysis revealed more than 1,000 message exchanges with Abedi in the weeks before, including discussions about martyrdom.

He has today told the hearing into the May 2017 Manchester Arena attack that he played no part in grooming Abedi, 22, into an extremist mindset before he caused carnage at the end of an Ariana Grande concert.

Abdalraouf Abdallah pictured giving evidence during the Manchester Arena Inquiry

read more from dailymail.....

PREV Trump says Biden's base won't let him support the police and slams rival for ... trends now
NEXT In news vacuum, rumours and concern swirl over Catherine mogaznewsen