Intelligence chiefs missed key warnings about Salman Abedi’s ‘suspicious behaviour’ that could have prevented the suicide bomber from murdering 22 people at the Manchester Arena, it has been reported.
M15 received at least two pieces of intel that should have put the 22-year-old under surveillance as a ‘high-priority’ target before he detonated an explosive device following an Ariana Grande concert in May, it is claimed.
The findings come from an internal review at the agency, thought to have been sent to Home Secretary Amber Rudd last week.
MI5 reportedly missed key warnings about Salman Abedi’s ‘suspicious behaviour’ that could have prevented the suicide bomber from murdering 22 people at the Manchester Arena
M15 received at least two pieces of intel that should have put Abedi under surveillance as a ‘high-priority’ target before the attack at an Ariana Grande concert in May, it is claimed
According to the Sunday Times, Andrew Parker, M15 director-general, is said to be in danger of losing his job as a result of the attack, which was the deadliest on British soil since the 2005 London bombings.
In a speech last month, Parker claimed MI5 used the ‘harsh light of hindsight to squeeze out every last drop of learning so that we can be the very best we can be, now and in the future’.
The internal review reportedly focused on intelligence passed on to an M15 regional office which originally deemed it not of high importance.
But the report found it should have raised triggered serious alarms about Abedi.
An intelligence source told the Sunday Times: ‘There were a few calls made regarding several bits of intelligence which, if judged differently at the time, would have turned Abedi into a high-priority case.
‘And when a target is judged a high priority, you should place them under surveillance. The greater the threat, the more resources you deploy for surveillance.’
Andrew Parker (left), M15 director-general, is said to be in danger of losing his job as a result of the attack, in which Salman Abedi (right) murdered 22 people
The attack, at the Manchester Arena (pictured), was the deadliest on British soil since the 2005 London bombings
But the intelligence reports were not thought to allude to a specific plot.
Parker, alongside Metropolitan police commissioner Cressida Dick, commissioned the review, which also looked into June’s London Bridge attack.
The former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, David Anderson QC, has carried out an ‘independent assurance’ of the review and a redacted version is due to be released to the public later this month.
Parker last month revealed MI5 is working on 500 active operations and it had stopped seven terror plots in as many months.