A SECOND suspect arrested in connection with the attempted bombing at Parsons Green had links to Scotland, neighbours have said.
Police swooped on Syrian refugee Yahyah Faroukh, 21, in a raid on Hounslow, London, on Saturday night.
Mr Faroukh, who came to the UK four years ago, originally hared a foster home with the 18-year-old arrested in Dover before moving on his own to a house near Heathrow Airport.
People living nearby said that he was often visited by relatives from Scotland, possibly from Edinburgh or Aberdeen.
Neighbour Pat Hodge, 59, said: "My wife and I have sat outside in the communal garden with him in the summer and had ice lollies.
"He seems like a nice chap. Sometimes his family come down from Edinburgh, I think it's his brother and two nephews.
"They're all really lovely to talk to. They're obviously Arabic but the kids speak with perfect Scottish accents.
"Sometimes he and his friends go out in the garden with their prayer mats and shisha pipes. I did think it was a bit strange that whenever I leave the house in the early hours of the morning, he's always up with his friends."
In terror investigations it is normal for officers to cast the net as widely as they can and speak to anyone who may have had contact with a bomber.
The probe into the Manchester Arena attack saw many relatives of Salman Ramadan Abedi detained by police before being released without charge.
It is believed Mr Faroukh originally comes from Al Harah near the Syrian capital of Damascus, and fled initially to Egypt, where his sisters remain.
Friend Mohammed Konbus, who met Mr Faroukh during the journey to the UK, said: "He wasn't into all that religious stuff. He was a very sensible person and very mature. I am so surprised that he has been linked to this.
"I really hope that it isn't him, but I haven't seen him in three years, and no one knows what can happen in three years.
"He doesn't seem like a guy that would go to that limit. I don't agree with people being killed so I hope we find out who it was.
"We moved because the situation got worse in Egypt and he wanted to learn English and start establishing his future."
His social media profile shows that at Christmas 2015, Mr Faroukh appears to have travelled to Scotland to see a cousin, also a refugee, and some children.
Another neighbour, Bob Farwell, said: "He's a nice guy. His brother used to visit from Scotland and they'd sit outside on the grass.
"He used to have loads of people over at 3 or 4 in the morning and have the curtains closed. He kept himself to himself but would say hello to me.
"He'd come out for a smoke – he'd never smoke in the flat and he seemed all right."
The arrested 18-year-old is thought to have been a 'problematic foster child' who was also raised in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, by Penelope Jones, 71, and husband Ronald, 88.
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