Manchester Arena: charity watchdog launches probe into mosque

The Charity Commission has launched a probe into Didsbury Mosque in south Manchester that was attended by the Manchester Arena attacker, Salman Abedi and his family.

The Manchester Arena Inquiry said that the mosque had downplayed its link to the family. In the third report, which was published last week, Sir John Saunders, chairman of the inquiry said that the mosque suffered from weak leadership.

The inquiry report said that Fawzi Haffar, chairman of the mosque was "unreliable and, at some points, his evidence lacked credibility".

However the report also found that the mosque was not an active factor in his radicalisation.

Sir John said: "The Charity Commission has already prescribed a programme that the Didsbury Mosque must put in place.

"I hope that they will read my report and consider whether anything more needs to be done."

The Charity Commission has now responded with a spokesperson saying that it was "actively considering the findings" of the report and had opened a regulatory compliance case to assess the concerns raised.

The mosque has not yet responded.

Richard Scorer of Slater and Gordon solicitors, who represents some of the bereaved families, told the BBC: "It is imperative that the commission consider carefully the very serious issues raised in Sir John's report, including around governance of Didsbury Mosque," he said.

"In our view, given Sir John's conclusions about the current chair of trustees at the mosque, it would be wholly inappropriate for that individual to remain as a trustee of the mosque, let alone as chair.

"We trust that this issue will be considered by the commission along with other matters".

Image: G-13114, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons