Manchester Police 'Not Sharing Bomb Details With US'

Police investigating the terror network behind the Manchester Arena bombing have stopped passing information to the US as a major transatlantic row emerged over leaks of key evidence.

The police, Downing Street and the Home Office refused to comment on the BBC report, but Theresa May is expected ti confront Donald Trump at a NATO meeting in Brussels on Thursday.

A Number 10 source told the Guardian that Downing Street was not involved in any decision to stop sharing details with the US.

It is understood the decision involves the "law enforcement" authorities rather than the intelligence agencies, which means that arrangements involving MI5, MI6 and GCHQ are not affected.

UK Government ministers voiced their anger in calls to their US counterparts on Wednesday after the New York Times published photos appearing to show bomb fragments and the backpack used by Salman Abedi to conceal the bomb.

A Whitehall source said: "We are furious. This is completely unacceptable. These images leaked from inside the US system will be distressing for victims, their families and the wider public.

"The issue is being raised at every relevant level by the British authorities with their US counterparts."

The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) said this behaviour breaches trust and "undermines our investigations and the confidence of victims, witnesses and their families":

"This damage is even greater when it involves unauthorised disclosure of potential evidence in the middle of a major counter-terrorism investigation."

The pictures appeared a day after the bomber's name was briefed to the US media against the wishes of Greater Manchester Police, hours after Home Secretary Amber Rudd revealed she had told US authorities not to leak material about the atrocity.

The leaks included suggestions that bomber Salman Abedi's family had warned security officials he was dangerous.

There were also reports Abedi's parents were so worried about him being radicalised in Manchester that they got him to join them in Libya and confiscated his passport. It was apparently returned when he said he wanted to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Twenty-two people have been killed and 59 injured when a device was detonated near an exit at the Manchester Arena.

The bomber, Salman Abedi, blew himself up in the arena's foyer as fans were beginning to leave the concert by US singer Ariana Grande.

Picture courtesy of Manchester bomb forensic/The New York Times.