The leaders of a mosque attended by Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi were guilty of ‘wilful blindness’ to highly-charged political debate about the conflict raging in Libya before the atrocity, the public inquiry into the atrocity has found.
But Didsbury Mosque was not an ‘active factor or cause’ in the radicalisation of suicide bomber Salman Abedi and his accomplice brother Hashem.
The south Manchester mosque was today (Thursday, March 2) heavily criticised in the third and final report of the public inquiry into the atrocity, which examined the radicalisation of the bomber, although it was not an ‘active factor’ in that radicalisation.
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Suicide bomber Salman Abedi, who murdered 22 innocents when he detonated a huge improvised device in his backpack at the end of an Ariana Grande concert at the arena on May 2017, and his jailed brother, Hashem Abedi, attended the mosque on Burton Road in west Didsbury as youngsters and their father, Ramadan Abedi, performed the call to prayer.
Ismail Abedi, the elder brother, volunteered in the mosque's Arabic school - and their mother taught there briefly.
A public inquiry into the atrocity concluded the mosque was ‘not an active factor or cause’ of the Libyan-heritage bomber’s radicalisation, although it criticised the ‘unreliable’ evidence of Fawzi Haffar, the chair of trustees at Didsbury Mosque who was accused of ‘wilful blindness’ about the charged atmosphere at the mosque before 2017 about the conflict in Libya.
Inquiry chairman Sir John Saunders praised the ‘generally truthful and reliable’ evidence of a liberal imam at the mosque, Mohammed El-Saeiti, who said in his evidence he was ostracised at the mosque after speaking out against radical Islam.
In his evidence, El-Saeiti said he received death threats on social media over one address he gave at the mosque - and there were concerns he would be attacked by the Abedi brothers Salman and Hashem.
Ismail Abedi, the elder brother who has now flown out of the country, approached him at the mosque days after he gave the sermon and criticised him for what he said in it. Mr El-Saeiti said up to 1,500 worshippers at the mosque heard the sermon on October 3, 2014 - the same day as a video of the murder by Islamic State of Salford taxi driver Alan Henning was released.
Mr El-Saeiti said weeks after he had delivered the sermon, there were two 'encounters' with Salman Abedi although they never spoke. In one Salman Abedi, who was with his brother Hashem, 'gave [him] a hateful look'.
He went on: "Shockingly, the attitude of the trustees in respect of the content of my sermon was objectionable... they were unanimous in their opinion that my speaking up against terrorist groups would inevitably provoke those who support or sympathise with the groups and their ideologies."
In his third and final inquiry report today, chairman Sir John said: “Overall, I accept that the leadership of Didsbury Mosque had no positive wish for its premises to be used for political purposes, let alone for the support of violent Islamist factions fighting in Libya or elsewhere. My impression from all the evidence was that the leadership recognised that members of its congregation represented both sides of the conflict in Libya and wished to avoid offending either group.
“That led to a form of wilful blindness in respect of the activities that occurred at the mosque. That was weak leadership. On any view, in the years leading up to the attack, the leadership of the mosque did not pay sufficient attention to what went on at its premises and did not have policies in place that were robust enough to prevent the politicisation of its premises, which I find occurred. It should have done. That is a lesson that all religious establishments must learn.”
Mr Haffar 'tended to downplay the strength of the links between the mosque and the Abedi family', said Sir John.
Sir John went on: “On the whole of the evidence, I am satisfied that [Salman Abedi], [Hashem Abedi] and Ismail Abedi all attended the mosque to pray over a lengthy period, as did their father Ramadan Abedi. Ramadan Abedi and Ismail Abedi had, for periods, specific roles within the mosque. I also accept the evidence of Mohammed El-Saeiti that there was an occasion in late 2014 when [Salman Abedi] gave him a hateful look in reaction to a sermon he had given on 3rd October 2014.”
The chairman noted there had been a campaign against Mr El-Saeiti following his October 2014 sermon after which Ramadan Abedi had posted a critical message on Facebook and that his sons had signed the petition calling for the imam to be sacked.
“This demonstrates the strength of connection between the Abedis and the mosque. It also demonstrates the extent to which the political situation in Libya was a prominent issue within its premises,” said Sir John.
He went on: “Even if it is the case that in the immediate aftermath of the attack, the leadership of Didsbury Mosque did not have an understanding of the strength of the Abedi family’s links to the mosque, in the course of engaging with the Inquiry the leadership should have investigated matters more thoroughly and provided a more complete and accurate account of the Abedis’ connection.
Sir John also criticised Mr Haffar for saying in his evidence the mosque had ‘no ties to Libya’ and no knowledge anyone from the mosque had gone to Libya.
“In my view, Fawzi Haffar’s evidence was not an accurate reflection of the position in the years before 2017. It lacked credibility,” said Sir John.
One of the mosque's imams, Mustafa Graf, described to the M.E.N. in 2013 how he was captured and tortured in Libya by forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi, who had been killed two years earlier during the Arab Spring uprisings, before managing to flee back to his home in Chorlton. He said he's gone to Libya to visit family.
Mr Haffar, asked about pictures which emerged after the Arena bombing of Graf in military fatigues in Libya, told the inquiry his colleague told him it was to 'blend in' rather than fight. Graf was suspended by the mosque but later re-instated. Mr Haffar told the inquiry the trustees accepted Mr Graf's version of events.
“It must have been clear to the leadership that the political situation in Libya was a prominent issue in the mosque for years before 2017,” said Sir John.
Sir John said he would refuse a request from the largest group of Arena families to report the mosque to the Charity Commission.
He wrote: “Having considered this carefully, I have concluded that it is unnecessary. The Charity Commission has already put in place an action plan. The Charity Commission can consider what I have said in light of the progress Didsbury Mosque has made on the action plan. In those circumstances, the Charity Commission is best placed to reach its own judgement about whether further action is required.”
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