BRUSSELS/LONDON – President Donald Trump said on Thursday that “deeply troubling” leaks to US media about the Manchester suicide bombing would be investigated, after irate British police stopped sharing information with US agencies.
British Prime Minister Theresa May raised British concerns with Trump at a NATO summit in Brussels, telling him intelligence shared between their two countries had to remain secure, in a rare public show of dissatisfaction with Britain’s closest security ally.
“The alleged leaks coming out of government agencies are deeply troubling,” Trump said in a statement released after he arrived in Brussels.
“I am asking the Department of Justice and other relevant agencies to launch a complete review of this matter, and if appropriate, the culprit should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The row comes as British police stepped up their investigation into a suspected network behind Salman Abedi, a 22-year-old British-born man with Libyan parents who blew himself up on Monday night at the Manchester Arena indoor venue after a concert by US singer Ariana Grande
The singer’s fans are mostly children and teenagers and the explosion killed 22 people, ranging from an eight-year-old schoolgirl to parents who had come to pick up their children.
Police are holding eight people in custody in connection with the attack and bomb disposal units were helping in searches as officers raided properties across the city.
“I want to reassure people that the arrests that we have made are significant, and initial searches of premises have revealed items that we believe are very important to the investigation,” Manchester’s police chief Ian Hopkins said.
With the official threat level raised to “critical”, meaning a further attack could be imminent, troops have been deployed to free up police, and armed officers patrolled trains for the first time in Britain.
The state-run National Health Service said all 27 major trauma units in England had told staff to be prepared for a possible attack, ahead of the weekend and a public holiday on Monday.
Abedi had recently returned from Libya, where his father and younger brother were arrested by a militia on Wednesday.
Abedi passed through Istanbul on his way to Europe, Turkish security officials told Reuters, but said they had no records of him entering Syria during his travels as had been suggested on Wednesday by the French interior minister.
A source with knowledge of the investigation told Reuters Abedi might have made the bomb himself or with some assistance from an accomplice. That was a change from previous thinking that a bomb-maker might be at large.
“The focus is still the search for accomplices and the network but he could have made this bomb himself,” the source said.
Over the past three, days several key details of the investigation, including the name of the bomber, first came out in US media, angering British police who feared such leaks risked compromising their investigation.
May raised the matter with Trump as they gathered for a group photograph at the NATO summit.
“She expressed the view that thee intelligence sharing relationship we have with the US is hugely important and valuable, but that the information that we share should be kept secure,” a British government source said.
The decision to stop sharing police information with US agencies was an extraordinary step for Britain, which is usually at pains to emphasize its “special relationship” with the United States.
“This is until such time as we have assurances that no further unauthorized disclosures will occur,” said a counter-terrorism source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
British authorities did not say that the investigation had in fact been compromised by the leaks.
The attack injured 116 people, of whom 75 were admitted to hospital and 23 remain in a very serious condition, health authorities said.
