Libyan militia ‘to cooperate’ with request to extradite Manchester Arena bomber’s brother to UK

A Libyan militia holding the younger brother of the Manchester Arena bomber says it is "ready to cooperate" with a extradition request from the UK.

British police called on Libyan authorities to return Hashem Abedi, 20, to the UK after they were granted a warrant for his arrest.

The Deterrence Force – an armed militia allied to the UN-backed government in Tripoli – initially rejected the request.

However, it now says it is "ready for the next step" if the Libyan attorney general comes to an agreement with British authorities.

A spokesperson for the Libyan government said it was "cooperating to process" the extradition request.

Greater Manchester Police has said it is "engaged with the Libyan authorities and are grateful for them considering the request".

The force added: "It is not appropriate for us to comment further and we must respect the Libyan due process."

Hashem Abedi’s older brother Salman killed 22 people in a suicide attack at Manchester Arena on 22 May.

Both brothers had travelled to Libya in April, before Salman returned alone to carry out the atrocity.

Hashem Abedi was arrested shortly afterwards, and has been accused by Libyan prosecutors of helping his brother and collecting materials for the attack.

They also claimed that Hashem Abedi was receiving money transferred by his 22-year-old brother the time of his arrest.

British counter terrorism police regard Hashem Abedi as a suspect and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham is among those calling for him to be tried in the UK.

On Wednesday, police revealed that more than 500 people were injured in the terror attack.

Officers said among those who survived the blast, 16 were seriously injured – with injuries including paralysis, loss of limbs, internal injuries and serious facial injuries.

As part of the investigation so far, 23 people have been arrested, 30 addresses have been searched, 11,000 items have been seized and 16 terabytes of data has been examined.

Greater Manchester Police said it took 1,300 statements, with more than 5,000 people referenced in the inquiry.

Officers are still working through 16,000 hours of CCTV and more than eight million lines of telephone communications data.

(c) Sky News 2017: Libyan militia ‘to cooperate’ with request to extradite Manchester Arena bomber’s brother to UK