TRIPOLI —

The Libyan militia holding captive Hashem Abedi, the brother of a suicide bomber who carried out the Manchester Arena attack in May 2017, is selling him for $1 million.

This comes amid a demand by the British authorities to hand over Abedi, the younger brother of the man who killed 22 people, including seven children, and injured hundreds of others after the government issued an arrest warrant for him for murder, attempted murder and planning his brother’s suicide attack.

The Sunday Express newspaper pointed out that the British government is afraid that he would escape justice and be sold to terrorists group and therefore is engaged in indirect negotiations through an unknown third party to extradite him.

The newspaper said, quoting Libyan sources that Daesh (the so-called IS) is currently negotiating through a third party “to pay for the release of” Hashem Abedi, aged 21, who has been detained since last year at Mitiga International Airport near the Libyan capital Tripoli.

British authorities have been trying to reach Hashem Abedi since last November, seven months after his brother’s suicide bombing in Manchester. Investigators believe he was involved in collecting the materials used to make the bomb used in the attack.

The newspaper quoted a source as saying: “We learned that Hashem Abedi is being offered for sale for a million dollars by two groups of militias that are holding him.”

The newspaper sources said that Britain is concerned that he would be sold to Daesh or other extremists and perhaps use him in promoting their agenda, and thus depriving the authorities from holding him accountable or knowing the reality of what happened and the nature of his role in the attack.

According to the source, Manchester police confirm that they have sufficient evidence to charge Hashem Abedi with killing 22 people, trying to kill others who were wounded, and conspiring to carry out the attack. — Al Arabiya English