Face of evil: Salman Abedi caught on CCTV before detonating the bomb that killed 22 innocent people

Police have released this image of Salman Abedi, the Manchester suicide bomber, in the minutes before he detonated the bomb that killed 22 people.

Abedi, wearing spectacles, a baseball cap, jeans and trainers, was caught on CCTV heading towards the Manchester Arena. The straps of the rucksack in which he is carrying the bomb are clearly visible over his dark jacket.

Counter-terrorism officers refused to say precisely when this picture was taken but they hoped its release would jog the memory of anybody who may have seen Abedi on the night. 

The footage was captured at some point between leaving the rented flat in Granby Row, where he assembled the bomb, and detonating it at the concert venue a mile away.

Detectives are urgently trying to piece together Abedi’s final four days in the UK. He arrived in Manchester on a flight from Libya via Istanbul and Dusseldorf on May 18 and blew himself up four days later on Monday, May 22.

Police said yesterday that they had established Abedi’s identity within two hours before embarking on a series of raids and arrests to dismantle his terror cell.

They revealed the huge scale of the hunt for Abedi’s network with 1,000 officers working on the inquiry, pursuing more than 1,500 separate ‘actions’. Officers initially worked 14-hour shifts.

Police were still actively involved in searching 14 different locations with 13 people under arrest on  suspicion of terrorism.

In a joint statement issued by Greater Manchester Police’s Chief Constable Ian Hopkins and Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, in charge of national counter terrorism policing, they said: “Today we are releasing an image of Salman Abedi taken from CCTV on the night he committed the attack. 

“We are gathering a detailed picture of Abedi as the investigation develops and now need people to tell us if they have any information about his movements from 18 May when he returned to the UK through to Monday night.”

They said the investigation was making “good progress” and added: “We know one of the last places Abedi went was the city centre flat and from there he left to make his way to the Manchester Arena. The flat is highly relevant as a location which we believe may be the final assembly place for the device.”

They went on: “In the past five days we have gathered significant information about Abedi, his associates, his finances, the places he had been, how the device was built and the wider conspiracy. 

"As a result of the arrests and searches which have taken place we now have many further lines of enquiry. We already have more than 1,500 actions we are pursuing.”

Police said anyone with information should call the Anti-Terrorist Hotline in confidence on 0800 789321. Images or footage believed to be of help can be uploaded to Ukpoliceimageappeal.co.uk or Ukpoliceimageappeal.com  

Police statement in full

Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins and Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, Senior National Coordinator UK Counter Terrorism Policing

Since Monday night Greater Manchester Police and Counter Terrorism Policing North West have been working closely with the national counter terrorism policing network on what continues to be a large scale and fast-moving investigation.

Today we are releasing an image of Salman Abedi taken from CCTV on the night he committed the attack. We are gathering a detailed picture of Abedi as the investigation develops and now need people to tell us if they have any information about his movements from 18 May when he returned to the UK through to Monday night.

The investigation is making good progress and we know one of the last places Abedi went was the city centre flat and from there he left to make his way to the Manchester Arena. The flat is highly relevant as a location which we believe may be the final assembly place for the device.

We have 14 locations that are still being searched and there are 13 people that have been arrested on suspicion of offences contrary to the Terrorism Act. In total 17 warrants have been carried out mainly across Greater Manchester.

We immediately established full command and control of the incident and within an hour of the attack taking place a specialist counter terrorism control room had been established with a first priority of identifying the attacker. Specialist counter terrorist forensic teams were sent to try and identify the attacker and within two hours his identity was known.  With this information officers could begin to establish his movements to try and understand if anyone else was linked or any more attacks planned.

Firearms officers from across the country were deployed to support Greater Manchester Police colleagues who were already deployed to the area in case of a further attack.

We called in officers from around the national counter terrorism policing network and they quickly arrived from across the UK. By early Tuesday morning there was an established pattern with all officers and staff working on the response to the attack in day and night shifts of approximately 14 hours each.

The whole team are working round-the-clock. We have around 1,000 people involved in the investigation alone. In addition there are hundreds of officers and staff from Greater Manchester Police and other forces involved in the security around Greater Manchester.

In the past five days we have gathered significant information about Abedi, his associates, his finances, the places he had been, how the device was built and the wider conspiracy.  As a result of the arrests and searches which have taken place we now have many further lines of enquiry. We already have more than 1,500 actions we are pursuing.

This is still a live investigation which is not slowing down. Our priorities are to understand the run up to this terrible event and to understand if more people were involved in planning this attack.

Anyone with information should call the Anti-Terrorist Hotline in confidence on 0800 789321. If you have any images or footage that you believe can assist us then upload them to Ukpoliceimageappeal.co.uk or Ukpoliceimageappeal.com