Opinion: MI6 and the Manchester Bomber – a short study of a long history

Who was Salman Abedi? Son of Libyan refugees who escaped Gadaffi’s reign and settled in the U.K.? Radicalised Islamic State follower? Angry young man? Dissident? The person who turned an evening out into a terror nightmare.

The suicide bomb attack by Salman Abedi, now more frequently referred to as the Manchester bomber brought the U.K. to a standstill and set off panic alarms across the security establishment. Close on the heels of the Westminster car attack, the bombings sounded a resounding knell of doom.

The election campaign declared by Mrs May hoping for a landslide victory was quickly put on hold with all the parties agreeing to a temporary suspension on campaigning. While politicians restrained themselves for a short while they eventually began mudslinging, accusing each other of failures of action and omission, given the importance of the upcoming election.

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The frightening reality though is that the agenda of the radical Islamic front has managed to take hold of the young, the disenchanted and the gullible turning them into so-called martyrs for a cause. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack albeit obliquely, not fully accepting Salman Abedi as one of their own while claiming responsibility which has raised doubts as to their level of involvement.

Did ISIS or other organisations offer or assist Salman Abedi? It is very likely this has indeed happened and that Salman may have been on the receiving end of guidance, training and support if not actual supply of materials through the network of hatred spread by these organisations.

Salman Abedi like many other young men today stands at the forefront of the radical agenda propagated by ISIS / Daesh and the hatred spewing world of radical Islam. The agenda put forth by radical arms of various Islamic militant groups spewing hatred against the Kaffir’s seems to have percolated down through the religious indoctrination in mosques and religious and non-religious meetings amongst the Muslim population.

The aim of the radical Islamic agenda is the annihilation of the Kaffir’s and the spread of the one true religion of Islam. It is this radical agenda much like the crusades that is now taking over the minds and hearts of the disenchanted Muslim youth. Given the history of the Crusades, perhaps history may show a way out of the quagmire.

Manchester fell silent at today at 10:31 p.m. congregating at St. Ann’s Square to remember the 22 lives lost in the horrific bomb attack carried out by an unassuming young man a week ago. The Intelligence agencies meanwhile are rapidly reviewing the information they have and the possibility that they may have missed warnings about Salman Abedi and a potential bomb alert.

MI6 ironically enough has historically had to deal with the aftermath of religious revolutions in the Middle East with more than a passing interest and hand in some of the changes in the Middle East – that vast cauldron of radical Islam.

MI6 and Britain may have had a part to play in the history of radicalisation that is now sweeping the globe much as it did when it supported the young Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIGF) to try to oust Gadaffi. Despite knowing of its links with Al-Qaeda, MI6 supported LIGF as a means to counter Gadaffi’s growth and when their coup attempt failed accepted its leaders as refugees despite the known security risks.

Some years later (2004) they traded some of its top ranking leaders in rendition agreements after Tony Blair and Gadaffi came to a secret deal. MI6 sent ranking LIGF commanders back to Libya designated as ‘Air Cargo’, into one of Gadaffi’s infamous prisons to undergo re-education.

Suitably re-educated the same commanders stepped out in support of Gadaffi and in a co – authored publication ‘Corrective Studies in the Concepts of Jihad’ (the authors did not name themselves but were quoted as imprisoned commanders of the LIGF) argues for jihad not to be waged against Muslim leaders but to focus on “conspiracies by its enemies, the Jews and Christians.”

Abedi travelled to Libya just days before the Manchester bombing and French intelligence officials believe he travelled to Syria during his time there. Libya itself has become a hotbed of terror training camps with the inability of its UN-backed Government of National Accord to control its territory. Internal skirmishes and power struggles and the lack of a stable government since Gadaffi’s overthrow have now turned Libya into the next terror incubator.

The link between Salman Abedi and the LIGF or other arms of the Al-Qaeda network (since LIGF merged with Al-Qaeda in 2007) needs to be probed in further detail especially given the family links including that of his father to Islamic Radical groups.

The fact that the claim of responsibility by ISIS was highly inaccurate raises the spectre of more complex chains linking and supporting Salman Abedi with the bomb attack. The ability to penetrate the security apparatus around large events and the successful bombing hint at a more sinister chain of events and potentially a more organised and well-trained network.

Hachem Abedi father of Salman Abedi according to the Rada forces who arrested him mid-interview on camera is suspected of links to the Islamic State who claimed responsibility for the Manchester bombings.

While the muddled networks and links between various agencies, individuals and their histories will take some time to untangle, MI6 now has its hand’s full monitoring and assessing risks from all the young men and women who have travelled to areas of particular interest.