My son is innocent, insists father of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi

The father of the Manchester Arena suicide bomber Salman Abedi has said son is innocent, and has confirmed police have arrested another of his sons. 

Abedi killed 22 people and injured at least 119 more when he detonated a bomb on Monday night as children were piling out of the venue having watched Ariana Grande.

But talking from Tripoli in Libya today, his father Ramadan Abedi insisted: 'We don't believe in killing innocents. This is not us.'

Police, in tandem with British soldiers, have carried out several raids since the atrocity on Monday night and have so far arrested four people. Manchester's chief constable said it is 'very clear' that police are investigating 'a network' linked to the bomber.

Three arrests were in the Fallowfield area of the city in the early hours of this morning, one 23-year-old man was arrested yesterday.  This is understood to be Abedi's brother, Ismail, who is still being quizzed by police. 

But this afternoon, Ramadan Abedi denied Salman was linked to militants or the suicide bombing. He claimed he had spoken to his 22-year-old son five days ago and that he was getting ready to visit Saudi Arabia and sounded 'normal'.

Abedi Sr said: 'We don't believe in killing innocents. This is not us.'

He said his other son, Ismail, was arrested in England on Tuesday morning. He said Salman was planning to head from Saudi Arabia to Libya to spend the holy month of Ramadan with family.

Abedi fled Tripoli in 1993 after Moammar Gadhafi's security authorities issued an arrest warrant and eventually sought political asylum in Britain.

Now, he is the administrative manager of the Central Security force in Tripoli.