MI5 received TWO separate warnings Manchester bomber Salman Abedi was buying dangerous chemicals

MI5 chiefs did not act on two separate warnings that the Manchester Arena striker was buying ingredients to make bombs in the months before the attack.

The Mail on Sunday has learned that the agency received two ‘tips’ into the purchase of chemicals by Salman Abedi and his associates – but failed to realize the ‘significance’ of the information.

Sir John Saunders, the chairman of the inquiry, revealed in his final report that a delay in the release of the second intelligence within MI5 and to the police resulted in a “significant missed opportunity to take action which could have prevented the attack”.

But a source who deals with national security issues told how the two reports relating to Abedi, 22, and his associates buying “precursor chemicals” used to make an explosive substance called triacetone triperoxide (TATP), nicknamed Mother of Satan.

It was this substance that was in the deadly bomb that killed 22 people – half of them children – at the end of an Ariana Grande concert on May 22, 2017.

It is unclear why the information was mishandled.

Relatives of the victims reacted angrily last night. Andrew Roussos, whose eight-year-old daughter Saffie-Rose was the youngest victim of the atrocity, said: ‘This information is key to understanding the scale of intelligence failures.

Mr Roussos and at least 15 other families have already spoken of their intention to sue MI5 for negligence. The Manchester Arena inquiry was highly critical of MI5, accusing it of being responsible for an intelligence ‘failure’ in planning the attack.

It was these damning findings that led Ken McCallum, Director General of MI5, to issue a rare public apology to the families of the victims. In November 2021, Sir John held closed hearings which could not be reported by the media.

Over a ten-day session, Sir John heard testimony from five MI5 officers – including those who actually handled and assessed the two intelligence elements.

In his report, Sir John said Witness J, who spoke on behalf of the Service, said the two pieces of intelligence were deemed unrelated to terrorism.

But MI5 officers, Witnesses A, B and C, told the inquest they considered the second piece of intelligence, when considered alongside the first piece, could be “an urgent security concern national”.

Yet despite this, the investigation revealed that the two pieces of intelligence were not dealt with quickly enough or shared with counter-terrorism police. Meanwhile, MI5’s own internal report on the matter was delayed and did not give enough context for other officers to understand its full significance.

Andrew Roussos, whose eight-year-old daughter Saffie-Rose (pictured) was the youngest victim of the atrocity, said: ‘This information is key to understanding the scale of intelligence failures’

Had MI5 acted on its intelligence, Sir John concluded, then Abedi could have been arrested and searched at Manchester Airport four days before the attack on his return from a trip to Libya.

The investigation also revealed that he could have been followed afterwards, which could have led MI5 to use a Nissan Micra to store the improvised explosives.

Abedi and his younger brother Hashem, 26 – currently serving life in prison – persuaded two cousins ​​and a friend to buy them sulfuric acid on Amazon.

Hashem Abedi’s trial at the Old Bailey heard he told his two cousins ​​- who had been cleared by police of any wrongdoing – that the acid was to recharge a car battery. But it was actually one of the necessary ingredients for the bomb.

Next is the purchase of hydrogen peroxide, the main ingredient of TATP, through fake Amazon accounts. MI5 had claimed that officers analyzing the intelligence considered it “criminal activity” related to “drugs or organized crime”.

Hydrogen peroxide can be used for hydroponics, the process used to grow cannabis plants in water – and Salman and Hashem Abedi had been drug addicts in the past.

But the chemical was also the main ingredient in suicide bombers used in the London transport bombings of July 7, 2005.

Last night a spokesman for the Home Office, speaking on behalf of MI5, said: “The President [Sir John] published its findings and the government will not speculate about them.