The father of the Manchester Arena terrorists, who was arrested in Libya following the bombing which killed 22 people, is receiving medical aid in Istanbul.
Ramadan Abedi, who was captured by police in 2017 just hours after insisting his son Salman Abedi was not behind the suicide bombing in the UK, has been regularly visiting the Turkish capital for treatment, The Daily Telegraph has revealed.
While it is yet unknown what the father is being treated for, sources told the paper that it is being paid for by the Libyan government who he previously worked for as a civil servant.
Following the Manchester Arena blast in 2017, which saw Abedi’s son Salman detonate a shrapnel-loaded bomb at a Ariana Grande concert, the father, who fled Tripoli in 1993 before claiming asylum in the UK, and his youngest son Hashem, 22, were arrested in Libya.
Hashem, who was born a dual British and Libyan nationalist like his brother, was arrested by Libyan militia within 24 hours of the blast and eventually extradited back to the UK following a lengthy battle with the British authorities and convicted of plotting with his brother in carrying out the terrorist attack.
F
ollowing the unprecedented move and after a seven-week trial at the Old Bailey this month, Hashem was found guilty of 22 counts of murder, attempted murder and conspiracy to cause explosions.
Meanwhile the terrorist’s father, who returned to Libya from the UK after Gaddafi was overthrown in the country’s 2011 civil war, was quietly released without charge by Libya’s Special Deterrence Force, a militia group, and disappeared.
However, the father, has now been tracked down by a local Libyan source who told the The Telegraph that he is often seen in Tripoli and has been visiting a hospital in Istanbul for unknown reasons.
Abedi’s sighting comes after his son Hashem was convicted alongside his brother of orchestrating the terrorist atrocity on May 22 which killed 22 men, women and children aged between eight and 51.
During the trial, the court heard how Abedi, who refused to give evidence, helped Salman plan, prepare and source two of the three chemicals for TATP explosives.
He now faces mandatory life imprisonment when he is sentenced by Mr Justice Jeremy Baker on a future date.
During the trial, the court were told how Salman Abedi waited an hour in the City Room, the foyer outside the venue, before detonating his large Karrimor rucksack which contained the explosive at 10.31pm.
HIs body, which was recovered in four parts, was identified by his DNA and finger prints which were on the police database after he was arrested for shop lifting in 2012.
It was previously revealed that the Arena bomber who had been studying for a degree in business and management at Salford University, had used his student loan to fund the terrorist attack with the help of his brother.