Friend of Manchester attacker known to MI5 before attack

The BBC has revealed that a Muslim preacher who was a friend of the Manchester Arena bomber, was known to MI5 more than a decade before the attack.

Mansour Al-Anezi was investigated before another close associate of his had tried to carry out a suicide bombing in Exeter in 2008.

MI5 were investigating Al-Anezi as a suspected radicaliser before the Exeter attack in 2008. He was arrested, though not charged, in connection with the Exeter attack.

Al-Anezi led prayers at a Plymouth mosque attended by the the Exeter attacker - a muslim convert called Nicky Reilly who was known to have learning difficulties and Asperger's syndrome. Reilly was injured when a nail bomb partially exploded in a restaurant toilet as he was preparing to detonate three devices. He died in prison in 2016.

The Manchester Arena attack happened on the ninth anniversary of the Exeter attack.

Al-Anezi died before the Manchester attack, though he was a known associate of Manchester Arena attack, Salman Abedi.

The third part of the Manchester Arena Inquiry is set to be released this week with a focus on how Abedi was radicalised and whether security services missed chances to stop him.

Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Barraclough, the officer who led the Manchester investigation, told the inquiry that the relationship between Al-Anezi and Salman Abedi was "clearly a connection of significance", however police were unable to establish exactly what it was.

Al-Anezi from Kuwait, came to the UK in 2000. He stayed in Manchester and then moved to Plymouth. MI5 warned investigators in Devon when Al-Anezi moved there and he was monitored at the Plymouth mosque where he preached. MI5 also collected intelligence on his activities.

Al-Anezi was known to visit Manchester and at some point, came into contact with Salman Abedi. He stayed at the Abedi family home and after the Manchester attack, some of his possessions were found there.

Salman Abedi was with Al-Anezi when he died in hospital in Plymouth in January 2017 and both Salman and his brother Hashem Abedi attended the funeral. Hashem Abedi helped his brother plan the Manchester attack. The day after the funeral, they bought chemicals to make explosives.

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