A warrant has been issued for the arrest of the elder brother of the Manchester Arena bomber for failing to give evidence at the public inquiry into the attack.
Ismail Abedi, who fled the UK last summer, did not attend a hearing at Manchester magistrates court on Tuesday.
The district judge said he was satisfied that Ismail Abedi, 28 – who now calls himself Ishmale ben Romdhan – was aware of the hearing and had been given the opportunity to attend.
Abedi, an IT worker, left his flat in Manchester last August and is now thought to be with his parents and three youngest siblings in Libya.
A final tannoy was made at Manchester Magistrates Court on Tuesday to check he was not in the building.
Salman Abedi blew himself up at the Arena in May 2017 killing 22 men, women and children. His younger brother Hashem, 24, who was extradited from Libya, is serving life for helping him make the bomb.
