British Home Secretary Amber Rudd has slammed U.S. intelligence officials for prematurely leaking information about alleged Manchester Arena attacker Salman Abedi to the press.
American news outlets were the first to suggest that the explosion at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester was a suicide bombing, with TV networks CBS and NBC the first to identify Abedi by name. However, they did so well before British authorities were prepared to release the information to the public, Rudd told BBC Radio 4.
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“The British police have been very clear that they want to control the flow of information in order to protect operational integrity, the element of surprise,” Rudd said.
Asked whether the Americans effectively compromised the British investigation into Abedi’s possible ties with terrorist groups, Rudd said she “wouldn’t go that far” but reiterated that she made U.S. officials “perfectly clear about the situation.”
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Twenty-two people were killed and 59 injured in the explosion, which Greater Manchester Police said was likely caused by Abedi detonating an improvised explosive device.
Abedi was born in Britain to Libyan immigrant parents and grew up around Manchester. His father and brother were reportedly arrested in Libya on Tuesday.