Police officers stand on duty at the cordon surrounding the Manchester Arena in Manchester in UK. ReutersTripoli: Libya has arrested a brother and the father of the man suspected of carrying out the bombing in the British city of Manchester, a relative and security sources said Wednesday.
The family source, asking not to be identified, said intelligence services had arrested Hashem Abedi, who like his older brother Salman was born in Britain.
"The father, Ramadan Abedi, has also just been arrested," said Ahmed bin Salem, a spokesman for the police of Libya's Government of National Accord.
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The arrest was made following searches at an address in the town of Nuneaton in central England, and is the first outside the Manchester area.
"This evening we have been carrying out searches at an address in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, and arrested a man," the Greater Manchester Police force said in a statement.
"These searches are connected to Monday's attack on the Manchester Arena, but this is a fast-moving investigation and we are keeping an open mind at this stage.
"As it stands, six men and one woman have been arrested in conjunction with the investigation and remain in custody for questioning."
All the previous arrests were made in and around Manchester in northwest England where the suicide bombing took place.
After arresting a 23-year-old man on Tuesday, police said they had taken three more men into custody Wednesday in south Manchester, the area where Abedi lived.
A fifth man who was carrying a suspect package was then detained in Wigan, northwest of the city.
The woman being held was arrested by police in Blackley, an area north of Manchester city centre.
