Manchester attack: Mosque rejects arena bomb 'smearing'

Didsbury Mosque said it had been placed in danger of extremist reprisals

A mosque has denied accusations of promoting violence and radicalisation by a lawyer representing victims of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.

Didsbury Mosque, where bomber Salman Abedi worshipped, claimed it had been "demonised" since the attack.

John Cooper QC accused the mosque of failing to confront extremism earlier this month at the inquiry into the atrocity.

The mosque said it had been placed in danger of extremist reprisals.

A spokesman said it had been a victim of "smearing and demonisation by some at the inquiry and in the media".

It mentioned an arson attack at the mosque in September which was investigated by police as a hate crime.

"We became aware of discussions on social media about 'a solution' to the problem of Didsbury Mosque, namely, to blow it up," the spokesman said.

While Abedi did attend the mosque, no evidence was found that he was radicalised there.

Twenty-two people were killed and hundreds more injured in the suicide attack at the end of an Ariana Grande concert.

Twenty-two people were killed and hundreds more injured in the 2017 bombing

The inquiry previously heard how Abedi's elder brother Ismail was in possession of a "significant" amount of extremist material supporting the Islamic State group when he taught at the mosque in the leafy south Manchester suburb.

Mr Cooper represented the families of 12 victims at the inquiry, which heard the last pieces of evidence earlier this month.

In his closing statement, he said the mosque had failed to confront extremism in the run up to 2017 and continued to do so.

He invited inquiry chairman Sir John Saunders to refer the case to the Charities Commission to reconsider the mosque's charitable status.

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But the mosque described Mr Cooper's referral as "bizarre".

The spokesman continued: "We made it clear that this barbaric act had nothing to do with Didsbury Mosque, Islam, or the Quran immediately after the attack.

"It is obvious that Abedi escaped the attention of all, and there must be better communication between all in the future."

The mosque has said it will write to Sir John with its own recommendations of how future acts of terrorism could be avoided.

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