MANCHESTER: Britain pressed a manhunt on Thursday for a Libya-linked jihadist network thought to be behind the deadly Manchester bombing as US President Donald Trump threatened to prosecute those responsible for leaking investigation details to the US media.

London reacted furiously after sensitive details about the investigation into Monday night’s suicide attack which targeted young concert goers, killing 22 people, appeared in the US press.

With the row over intelligence-sharing escalating, a shellshocked Britain held a minute of silence to remember the victims of the latest IS-claimed atrocity to hit Europe.

As more children were named as victims of the massacre, Libyan authorities detained the bomber’s father and his brother while police in Britain carried out fresh arrests and raids.

As the nation mourned, Queen Elizabeth II visited children injured in the attack at a hospital in the northwestern city. “It’s dreadful. Very wicked to target that sort of thing,” she told Evie Mills, 14, and her parents.

Three days after the attack, some 75 people are still being treated in hospital, including 23 in critical condition, medical officials said. Twelve of the injured are under 16.

‘Furious over leaks’

As investigators pushed ahead with the probe into the attack, British authorities were left “furious” by repeated leaks of material shared with their US counterparts that they said undermined the investigation.

In Brussels for a Nato summit on Thursday, Prime Minister Theresa May confronted Trump over the issue. “She expressed the view that the intelligence sharing relationship we have with the US is hugely important and valuable, but that the information that we share should be kept secure,” May’s spokesman said.

Images obtained by The New York Times newspaper showed a detonator Abedi was said to have carried in his left hand, shrapnel including nuts and screws and the shredded remains of a blue backpack. “We are furious. This is completely unacceptable,” a government ministry source said of the images.

Libya closely working with Britain

University dropout Abedi, 22, grew up in a Libyan family that reportedly fled to Manchester to escape the now-fallen regime of Libyan dictator Muammar Qadhafi.

His father Ramadan and younger brother Hashem have been detained in Libya, with officials there saying the brother was aware of the planned attack.

They said both brothers belonged to the militant Islamic State group, while the father once belonged to a now-disbanded militant group with alleged ties to Al Qaeda.

Libya said it was working closely with Britain to identify possible “terrorist networks” involved.

Libyan officials said Abedi’s brother Hashem had been under surveillance for six weeks and said investigators had information he was planning “a terrorist attack” in Tripoli.

A relative told AFP that Abedi had travelled to Manchester from Libya four days before the bombing.

German police said Abedi made a brief stopover at Duesseldorf Airport, while a Turkish official said he had transited through Istanbul airport without saying where he was travelling from.

A source close to the family said Abedi wanted to avenge the murder in Manchester last year of a friend of Libyan descent, with his sister Jomana Abedi also telling The Wall Street Journal he was driven by a desire for revenge.

“I think he saw children — Muslim children — dying everywhere, and wanted revenge. He saw the explosives America drops on children in Syria, and he wanted revenge,” she said.

British officials said Abedi had been on the intelligence radar before the massacre.

Police announced two new arrests on Thursday, bringing the total to eight people in custody in Britain. A woman detained on Wednes­day was released without charge.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2017