The chairman of trustees at the mosque attended by the Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi has denied that the place of worship has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood or issues with extremism.
The Manchester Arena Inquiry heard that Abedi had aroused suspicion at Manchester Islamic Centre, also known as Didsbury Mosque.
Abedi killed 22 people and injured more than 1,000 when he blew himself up at the end of an Ariana Grande concert in May 2017.
Mohammed El-Saeiti, a former prayer leader at the centre, has said Abedi attended some of his sermons and once gave him "hateful looks" after he gave an anti-ISIS sermon in 2014.
But Fawzi Haffar, chairman of the trustees at Manchester Islamic Centre, said he was not aware of any extremism existing at the mosque before the bombing.
"We never thought that there might be anyone who might have any radical thoughts," he told the inquiry on Tuesday. "We knew for sure there was nobody there who would be teaching any radicalism. As far as I am concerned, there was no radicalisation."
Mr Haffar denied the mosque had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and said he had never seen Abedi at the building.
"We are very clear, we are a mainstream mosque," he said. "We do not allow groups to come and hijack the mosque."
Paul Greaney QC, counsel for the inquiry, put to Mr Haffar that the day after the bombing he was told Abedi had attended the mosque repeatedly until 2016.
"I have never known the father, the mother or the Abedi children," he said.
Mr Greaney then suggested that Abedi's father, Ramadan, and his older brother, Ismail, had volunteered at the mosque between 2014 to 2017, his mother worked there as a teacher, and asked Mr Haffar how, over his four decades at the mosque, he had "never heard" of the family.
"I have never known Ramadan or seen him or Ismail," he replied.
The inquiry was told the Charity Commission visited the mosque almost a year after the bombing, examined if it was safeguarding youngsters against radicalisation and issued it with an action plan.
Mr Haffar said the mosque took the recommendations "seriously" and himself and the other trustees attended courses on how to identify extremism.
When asked why they had not done so before the watchdog's intervention, Mr Haffar told the inquiry there had been "no problems" previously.
"We thought everything was under control," he said.
"There were no incidents or problems. We did not sense anything wrong at the time.
"We were doing our best, we vetted imams. We made sure radicalisation had no place in our mosque."
He denied that the mosque provided a meeting space for extremist groups between 2014 to 2017, despite another member claiming this had happened.
It was put to him that Mustafa Graf, a Libyan who was previously locked up in his homeland for fighting, had held group meetings at the mosque for his compatriots.
The inquiry heard three convicted terrorists, Mohammed Abdallah, Abdalraouf Abdallah and ISIS poster boy and recruiter, Raphael Hostey, had attended the mosque.
When asked if the government's Prevent deradicalisation programme was the "best way to combat evil", Mr Haffar said "not everyone was of the same mind that the Prevent programme works for mosques".
The inquiry was told earlier that the Abedi brothers' father played a role in their radicalisation.
The Manchester Arena Inquiry is investigating the circumstances of the attack and whether any opportunities to prevent it were missed.
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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Afghanistan Premier League - at a glance
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Fixtures:
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Table:
1. Balkh Legends 6 5 1 10
2. Paktia Panthers 6 4 2 8
3. Kabul Zwanan 6 3 3 6
4. Nagarhar Leopards 7 2 5 4
5. Kandahar Knights 5 1 4 2
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