London/Manchester: British police stopped sharing information about the Manchester suicide bombing with the United States on Thursday after leaks to US media that police said had risked compromising their investigations.
In a rare public show of dissatisfaction with Britain’s closest security ally, Prime Minister Theresa May said she would tell US President Donald Trump at a NATO summit later on Thursday that intelligence shared between their two countries had to remain secure.
“I will make clear to President Trump that intelligence that is shared between our law enforcement agencies must remain secure,” she said in a televised statement.
The BBC said that home secretary Amber Rudd was confident the leaks, which she had described as irritating, would now stop. The decision to stop sharing police information with US agencies was an extraordinary step as Britain sees America as its closest ally on security and intelligence.
“This is until such time as we have assurances that no further unauthorised disclosures will occur,” said a counter-terrorism source on condition of anonymity.
Manchester’s chief constable Ian Hopkins said the leaks of details of the investigation to US media, which included forensic photographs of the bomb site published by the New York Times, had been hurtful to the families of the victims.
“It is absolutely understandable the distress and upset that this caused to these families that are already suffering,” he said.
British authorities did not say that the investigation had in fact been compromised by the leaks.
The most senior US diplomat in Britain condemned the leaks as “reprehensible” and said the US government would take action to identify those responsible and stop them.
Britain routinely shares intelligence with the US bilaterally, and also as part of the “Five Eyes” network, which also includes Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
