Leaders at Didsbury mosque have responded to criticism they faced in the Manchester Arena bombing public inquiry, denying they showed 'wilful blindness' to highly-charged political debate about conflict in Libya before the atrocity. The south Manchester mosque was yesterday (Thursday, March 2) heavily criticised in the third and final report of the public inquiry into the attack.
Elders were accused of 'weak leadership' and were found to have not paid 'sufficient attention' to what went on at the mosque. There were no policies in place that were 'robust enough to prevent the politicisation of its premises', inquiry chair Sir John Saunders said.
Chair of trustees Fawzi Haffar was also criticised for giving 'unreliable' evidence in saying the mosque had 'no ties to Libya' and no knowledge anyone from the mosque had gone to Libya. He was also accused of 'downplaying' the Abedi's family's links to the mosque.
