Salman Abedi: Alleged Manchester attacker’s father says son is innocent

The father of the alleged Manchester bomber has said his son is innocent, according to reports.

Ramadan Abedi denied his son is linked to extremist militants or the suicide bombing that killed 22 people, Associated Press reported.

Mr Abedi said he spoke to his 22-year-old son, Salman Abedi, five days ago and he was getting ready to visit Saudi Arabia and sounded "normal”.

He said that his son visited Libya a month-and-a-half ago.

Mr Abedi fled Tripoli in 1993 after Muammar Gaddafi's security authorities issued an arrest warrant and eventually sought political asylum in Britain.

Now, he is the administrative manager of the Central Security force in Tripoli.