Manchester Police cease sharing terror info with US, following identity leak

Police investigating the Manchester Arena bomb attack have stopped sharing information with the US after it leaked key evidence to the press. The news comes after the name of attacker Salman Abedi, who killed 22 and injured 64 in a suicide bomb, was leaked to US media, before UK press were made aware. Manchester Police delivers its information to National Counter-Terrorism, which then shares it across government and - because of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing agreement - with the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Prime Minister Theresa May has confirmed she will remind US President Donald Trump at a Nato meeting that shared intelligence ‘must remain secure’. Greater Manchester Police has maintained it hopes to resume normal intelligence relationships - a two-way flow of information - soon but is currently frustrated by the lack of discretion. In total eight men are now in custody following the attack, including Abedi’s brother Ismail Abedi, 23. Commenting on the leak, the National Police Chiefs' Council said it ‘undermines our investigations and the confidence of victims, witnesses and their families’. Home Secretary Amber Rudd had said she was ‘irritated’ by the disclosure of Abedi's identity against the UK's wishes and had warned Washington ‘it should not happen again’.