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An imprisoned British terrorist and close friend of the Manchester Arena shooter who has refused to cooperate with the public inquiry into the attack will be released on parole this week.
Abdalraouf Abdallah befriended terrorist Salman Abedi, who visited him in jail in the months before he killed 22 people and injured hundreds more in the terror attack.
Abdallah, 27, who has “important evidence” about the background to the attack, has so far refused to speak to lawyers for the investigation about his ties to Abedi.
Abdallah, who was paralyzed after being shot while fighting the Gaddafi regime in the 2011 uprising in Libya, was jailed for more than five years for trying to help people travel to Syria to join the jihadists.
Abedi visited him in prison twice and the couple were in regular telephone contact to discuss the martyrdom, the investigation said.
But Abdallah claims legal privilege by refusing to answer questions that may incriminate himself, the hearing was told.
Paul Greaney QC, advisor to the investigation, has previously said: “Salman Abedi’s relationship with Abdalraouf Abdallah was of some significance in the run-up to the attack and we are determined to get to the bottom of it.
“We have no doubt that he is a witness with important evidence to give. We continue with this line of research. We hope that, on reflection, he will cooperate, so we will press for his statement before the investigation. “
In the months leading up to the Manchester Arena attack in May 2017, Abedi and his brother Hashem visibly more radicalized, dropped out of education courses, dressed in traditional Islamic clothing and became more religious in their attitudes. Both Abedi brothers were seen associating with the well-known extremist Abdallah.
Abedi visited Abdallah in Belmarsh Prison in February 2015 while he was on remand for terrorist offenses. She visited him again in January 2017, along with two other men, who were traveling from their home in Fallowfield, south of Manchester, to visit the now-imprisoned Abdallah, at HMP Altcourse in Liverpool.
In February 2017, three months before the Manchester bombing, prison authorities discovered that Abdallah had an illicit phone and had tried to call Abedi.
The couple discussed martyrdom, the public inquiry has heard, and a third visit was scheduled for March 2017 but did not take place.
Two months later, Abedi detonated her shrapnel-filled backpack bomb, killing 22 people and wounding hundreds more as they left an Ariana Grande concert.
Manchester’s Abdallah was paralyzed from the waist down after being shot while fighting the Libyan uprising in 2011 and returned to the UK for treatment.
In May 2016, he was imprisoned after being found guilty of planning and financing acts of terrorism by helping four other people travel to Syria for terrorism, including his older brother.
