Manchester Arena Inquiry: Mosque Failed To Act On Extremism

BBC News

Manchester Arena Inquiry: Mosque Failed To Act On Extremism, Families Say

The mosque which the Manchester Arena bomber attended failed to adequately "challenge extremist ideology" in the years before the attack, the families of his victims have said.

A former Didsbury Mosque imam has told the Manchester Arena Inquiry support for terror groups was preached there.

In a statement, some of the bereaved said they were "dismayed" by the mosque's "failure to acknowledge this".

A trustee has previously told the inquiry the mosque was "mainstream".

On Tuesday, the chairman of the mosque's trustees, Fawaz Haffar, said encouraging any radicalisation would be "in contradiction of our charitable objects".

"We are a mainstream mosque welcoming all Muslims, but we are in the middle of the road," he said.

Twenty-two people were killed and hundreds more injured when Abedi detonated his homemade device at Manchester Arena on 22 May 2017.

The inquiry has previously heard how his elder brother Ismail was in possession of a "significant" amount of extremist material supporting the Islamic State group when he was teaching at Didsbury Mosque.

Full story https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-59404102