Didsbury mosque responds to stinging Manchester Arena bombing inquiry criticism
Leaders at Didsbury mosque have responded to criticism they faced in the Manchester Arena bombing public inquiry, denying they showed 'wilful blindness' to highly-charged political debate about conflict in Libya before the atrocity. The south Manchester mosque was yesterday heavily criticised in the third and final report of the public inquiry into the attack.
Read more: Manchester Arena: Others 'probably knew' what bomber Salman Abedi 'intended to do' and he was 'likely provided with help' "Like many mosques the meeting room was hired for humanitarian aid work in Libya and for other countries, this is not evidence of extremism." "Didsbury Mosque had been a place where Ramadan Abedi and their sons prayed until 2006 when they moved to a mosque in another part of the city, after which they went to Libya and then the children returned. They were not known to the mosque as adults , and this was not their local mosque.
"We were shown a recording of this only on the day of our public hearing. It was presented on the day as if it was evidence of an extremist circle at the mosque. Thousands of marriage contracts have been performed at this mosque; the staff cannot be expected to recall them all and the trustees are not aware of them."
In an interview with the BBC, Mr Haffar said he 'disagreed' with the inquiry's description of him as an 'unreliable witness' and denied downplaying the mosque's links to the Abedi family. "I never knew the family and I told the truth," he said.
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