BRITAIN: Furious Theresa May To Confront Trump At NATO Meeting Over New US Leaks Of Terrorism Intel

The Guardian reports:

Theresa May will confront Donald Trump over the stream of leaks of crucial intelligence about the Manchester bomb attack when she meets the US president at a Nato summit in Brussels on Thursday.

British officials were infuriated on Wednesday when the New York Times published forensic photographs of sophisticated bomb parts that UK authorities fear could complicate the expanding investigation into the lethal blast in which six further arrests have been made in the UK and two more in Libya.

It was the latest of a series of leaks to US journalists that appeared to come from inside the US intelligence community, passing on data that had been shared between the two countries as part of a long-standing security cooperation.

A senior Whitehall source said: “These images from inside the American system are clearly distressing to victims, their families and other members of the public. Protests have been lodged at every relevant level between the British authorities and our US counterparts. They are in no doubt about our huge strength of feeling on this issue. It is unacceptable.”

More from the BBC:



The UK government and police have reacted with anger after a US newspaper published photos apparently showing the scene of the Manchester bomb attack. Counter terror police chiefs said the leak undermined their investigation and victims’ and witnesses’ confidence.

A Whitehall source added: “We are furious. This is completely unacceptable.” Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said he had raised the leaks with the US ambassador. Earlier UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd said she was irritated with the US for releasing information about bomber Salman Abedi.