What we know about Manchester suicide bomber Salman Abedi

The man who killed 22 people and injured 59 in a suicide bombing at the Manchester arena has been identified by British police as Salman Abedi, a Manchester-born 22-year-old man of Libyan descent.

A police officer stands outside Didsbury mosque in Manchester, Britain May 24, 2017.

Downing Street confirmed Tuesday night Abedi had travelled to Libya, and a school friend of Abedi told The Times that Abedi had returned from a three-week trip to the country just days ago.

French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said on Wednesday that British investigators told French authorities that Abedi had also possibly travelled to Syria.

"Today we only know what British investigators have told us - someone of British nationality, of Libyan origin, who suddenly after a trip to Libya, then probably to Syria, becomes radicalized and decides to carry out this attack," Collomb told French news channel BFMTV.

When asked if Abedi had acted with the help of others, Collomb said: "That is not known yet, but perhaps. In any case, (he had) links with Daesh (Islamic State) that are proven."

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, though British police have not said there is any evidence he was working with the radical Islamist group.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday it was possible Abedi was working with a wider group of individuals. Home Secretary Amber Rudd told BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday it seems likely Abedi was not acting alone.

Rudd said that Abedi was known to British security forces prior to the attack but he was not part of an active investigation.

Abedi was born in Manchester in 1994 to mother Samia Tabbal and father Ramadan Abedi, a security officer. The couple relocated to the United Kingdom from Libya to escape the Muammar Gaddafi regime. The family is well-known in the Libyan community in Manchester, and Abedi attended services at the Didsbury mosque, where his brother Ismael was a tutor.

Ismael Abedi was belived to have been arrested on Tuesday. A further three people were arrested on Wednesday.

Salman Abedi is thought to have two more siblings - a brother, Hashim Abedi, and a sister, Jomana, who lives in Manchester though her Facebook profile says she is from Libyan capital Tripoli.

A former business management student at Salford University, Abedi has lived at several addresses in Manchester including one on Elsmore Road, Fallowfield which police raided on Tuesday.

Described as tall, skinny, and often wearing traditional Islamic clothing, Abedi regularly prayed at Didsbury mosque.

Mohammed Saeed El-Saeiti, the imam at the mosque, told The Telegraph: “Salman showed me the face of hate after my speech on Isis ... He was not my friend, he is not close. I could understand that he was not happy with me because I did combat Isis (Islamic State) in that Friday sermon sometimes.”

One member of Manchester’s Libyan community told the Guardian they were surprised to hear Abedi was responsible for the attack.

“Salman? I’m astonished by this,” the source said. “He was such a quiet boy, always very respectful towards me. His brother Ismail is outgoing, but Salman was very quiet. He is such an unlikely person to have done this.”

Lina Ahmed, 21, told The Telegraph that Abedi had been acting strangely in recent months, and that she had heard him chanting Islamic prayer in the street.

To contact the reporter: angus@mail.chinadailyuk.com.cn