Mohammed Soliman, a former suspect in the Manchester Arena bombing, regained his British citizenship after MI5 changed its view of his role in the attack, BBC reports.

Soliman, 26, was arrested in Libya after his citizenship was revoked over suspicions that he helped prepare the Manchester Arena attack in May 2017.

Over 20 people were arrested during the early weeks of the police investigation. However, Mr Soliman was not in the UK or about to come back, so was not questioned by police and did not provide his version of events. He had flown out of Manchester in April that year, eventually making his way to stay with family in Benghazi, Libya.

In July 2017, the home secretary Amber Rudd removed his citizenship. As is typical in such cases, she was acting on advice from MI5. He was arrested by Libyan law enforcement the same month.

Mr Soliman appealed against the removal of his citizenship at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC). SIAC is a semi-secret court and many of its hearings and rulings are never made public, because they include sensitive evidence which the government says it cannot divulge.

Mr Soliman’s case took place entirely in secret. It ended in July 2021 without going to a full hearing. The then home secretary Priti Patel “decided to withdraw the decision” to deprive Mr Soliman of his British citizenship, according to the formal document which confirmed the move.

In doing so, she was also acting on advice from MI5, but their advice had changed – without Mr Soliman ever being questioned by British police. The government avoided a court case by returning his citizenship in 2021. By not proceeding to a full hearing, the court did not consider Mr Soliman’s claims about ill treatment in Libya or how he came to be arrested there, including any role played by British intelligence.

He was detained for eight months, his mother said in a police witness statement. After Mr Soliman’s citizenship was restored, he returned to Britain in October 2021 and was arrested on arrival. He answered detectives’ questions and denied knowing anything about the bomb plot.

MI5 has said publicly that its assessment is that no-one other than Salman and his brother Hashem Abedi, who is serving life in prison, were knowingly involved in the bomb plot.

A public inquiry last week was critical of MI5’s decision making before the attack. It also said the brothers were probably helped by an unknown source in Libya.

Reporting restrictions preventing Mr Soliman from being named in relation to these events have now been lifted after the BBC wrote to the court, allowing the story to be told for the first time.

(Source: BBC)