BOMBER Salman Abedi looks relaxed in a lift — minutes before detonating the home-made device which killed 22 people at Manchester Arena.
The 22-year-old monster was captured by a CCTV camera as he made his way up to the concert venue from the city’s Victoria Station in his pair of £300 Nike trainers.
He wore glasses, a baseball cap and jeans plus a Hollister puffa jacket — with his left hand holding the detonator for the bomb in his Karrimor rucksack.
Minutes later 22 people lay dead after a devastating blast, which followed Monday night’s gig by US singer Ariana Grande. Another 120 were injured.
Abedi, 22, was captured on video as he travelled in a lift to the arena from the city’s adjoining Victoria Station.
The monster, who claimed benefits and got student loans to fund his suicide bomb, appeared relaxed as he travelled up a single level from the ground floor — appearing to lean on the lift wall.
Sporting a wispy beard and wearing specs and his rare Nike Air Jordan trainers, he concealed the detonator in the left pocket of his padded jacket.
After leaving the lift, Abedi turned left and walked 65 yards across a raised concourse to the arena’s City Room entrance before walking into the foyer.
CCTV images of Salman Abedi taken on the night he committed attack in Manchester
At 10.33pm — as young fans streamed from the crowded venue — he used the detonator to explode the device, which was cruelly packed with screws, bolts and nails to inflict maximum damage.
Police have now released two full-length images of Abedi — with the lift wall blacked out — as the PM announced the UK’s terror threat level has been reduced from critical to severe.
It came after pre-dawn raids carried out by the SAS and police led to the seizure of missing explosives at a house in Manchester’s Moss Side area.
PA:Press Association
Two brothers, Mohamed and Yahya Werfalli, aged 20 and 22, were held at their family home by cops hunting the remnants of a gang suspected to have assisted Abedi’s barbaric attack.
Meanwhile streets were cordoned off and residents told to stay indoors after chemical hydrogen peroxide explosives were found at a local house.
An army bomb disposal team was called in to search the property, which was declared safe at lunchtime.
Abedi was decapitated by the force of his deadly blast, but was identified within two hours.
That enabled cops to establish his movements and draw up a list of his associates.
Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins and Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, Senior National Coordinator UK Counter Terrorism Policing, said in a joint statement that “significant” information had been gathered on Abedi and “the wider conspiracy”.
They added: “As a result of the arrests and searches which have taken place we now have many further lines of enquiry.
“We already have more than 1,500 actions we are pursuing.
CCTV Images that police believe to be Salman Abedi shopping in Arndale“This is still a live investigation which is not slowing down.
"Our priorities are to understand the run-up to this terrible event and to understand if more people were involved in planning this attack.”
Security chiefs had been anxious to trace explosives unaccounted for following a raid on a short-term apartment in Manchester city centre where Abedi constructed and primed his bomb.
Did you see the bomber? Call the Anti-terrorist hotline in confidence on 0800 789321
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It was from there that he is thought to have walked five minutes to Piccadilly station to buy a £1.20 Metrolink tram ticket to transport him just over a mile to Victoria Station and the arena.
Arriving at Victoria on either platform One or Two, it appears he took the lift.
Having crossed the raised walkway, he walked down just 12 steps to the venue.
After comparing the amount of chemicals stockpiled by Abedi’s network with those recovered from the flat and used in the blast, cops concluded there was enough left for at least two more bombs.
Along with fears that “key players” in Abedi’s cell were still at large, it prompted the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre to increase the terror threat level to critical last Tuesday — meaning an attack is imminent.
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Preachers at mosque where Manchester bomber prayed called for non-believers to be killedBut the threat was ruled to have receded after yesterday’s raids and the recovery of explosives.
Police say they are also confident the “key players” in Abedi’s network have been found, but more arrests will follow.
Following a meeting of the Government’s Cobra emergency committee on Saturday, Theresa May said the threat level was being reduced.
The PM said: “The public should be clear about what this means. A threat level of severe means an attack is highly likely. The country should remain vigilant.”
Stringent security measures will remain in place over the Bank Holiday weekend, then scaled back next week.
They have seen armed police patrolling beaches, sporting venues and iconic tourist locations with more than 1,000 military personnel drafted on to streets.
Mrs May said the Operation Temperer initiative to deploy the military will be scaled down from midnight tomorrow.
So far 17 raids have been carried out — with 11 men in custody.
Did you see the bomber? Call the Anti-terrorist hotline in confidence on 0800 789321