[DW] Police believe the brother of bomber Salman Abedi met with possible financiers before the attack, reports say. Hashem Abedi has been accused of providing explosives, funding and logistical support for his brother's act.Now, German news weekly Focus and Cologne daily Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger say Hashem traveled at least twice to Germany.
Investigations by Special Branch, Scotland Yard, MI5 and German authorities reportedly found that Hashem visited the Leipzig and Weissenfels areas in eastern Germany.
Records revealed that on December 17, 2016, he was caught without a ticket on the train from Weissenfels to Leipzig and showed his British driving license to the officials, the outlets reported.
In Weissenfels, which has a large Libyan community, he reportedly met with three real-estate agents who have since been accused by security agencies of being money launderers. One of them was raided by police for tax evasion and violation of labor laws, according to the two outlets. The second was reportedly arrested in Dubai for violating trade embargoes on Libya.
And the third was a Libyan businessman who openly applauded Islamist martyrs on social media and allegedly has close connections to a radical Libyan militia group loyal to deceased Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
Security agencies believe Hashem's journeys in Germany could point to a terrorist financing cell in the country. In May it was reported that just days before Salman carried out his attack, he transited through Dusseldorf Airport on his way to Manchester from Turkey. He was also believed to have been in Germany before, having flown from Frankfurt Airport to Britain in 2015.