German police: Manchester bomber passed through airport

The suspected bomber in the concert attack in Britain passed through a German airport before the attack, police said today.

Salman Abedi spent only a short time at Duesseldorf airport's transit area four days before the bombing at Manchester Arena, Duesseldorf police said, confirming an earlier report in German magazine Focus.

"According to the current state of the investigations, the suspect transferred in Duesseldorf on his travels to Manchester. Therefore he spent a short time in the transit area," police said in a statement.

Police didn't provide any further information or say where Abedi was coming from when he landed in Duesseldorf.

Focus magazine, citing unnamed federal security sources, had earlier reported that British-born Abedi twice flew from a German airport in recent years and that he wasn't on any international watch list.

A German security official told The Associated Press on Thursday the report was accurate. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the information hadn't been cleared for public release.

Focus reported that Abedi previously flew from Frankfurt to Britain in 2015. The magazine also wrote that German authorities are trying to determine whether Abedi had contact with Islamic extremists in Germany.

The report said that British police informed their German counterparts that Abedi had received paramilitary training in Syria beforehand.