Libya to extradite brother of Manchester bomber 'by end of year'

Libya is planning to extradite the brother of Manchester Arena bomber by the end of the year, Fayez al-Sarraj, the nation’s UN-backed prime minister, told the BBC on Wednesday.

Britain last year submitted a request to extradite Hashem Abedi after the bombing at an Ariana Grande pop concert in May 2017 in which 22 people – many of them young pop fans – were killed.

Salman Abedi detonated the bomb, killing himself, outside one of the arena exits shortly after the end of a concert by Ariana Grande. Both brothers travelled to Libya in April, before Salman returned alone to carry out the attack.

In an interview with the BBC on the sidelines of an international conference in Italy, Mr Sarraj said: “I think from here to the end of this year, we will finish all the legal procedures in Libya.

"We are fully cooperating because we understand the suffering of the families of the victims of this terrorist attack.

“According to the general prosecutor, we can extradite. After we complete the legal process in Libya, it is only a matter of time.”

When Britain first made the extradition request in November 2017, the armed group holding him refused it.