UK scolds US ‘friends’ for leak of Manchester bomb intelligence
The U.K. government has criticized security allies in the United States for leaking sensitive information following the suicide bomb in Manchester on Monday.
The British Home Secretary Amber Rudd has said it was "irritating" that details about the Manchester bombing investigation were leaked and that they have been clear with Washington that it "should not happen again".
Details about the Manchester suicide bomb attack appeared on U.S. news sites before British police had publicly released them to the U.K. media.
Media outlets, including NBC, were able to publish death tolls, the attacker's name and the fact that it had been a suicide bombing.
Rudd told BBC Radio 4's Today program that she would be reviewing how intelligence is shared after the early release of the Manchester attacker's identity.
"The British police have been very clear they want to control the flow of information in order to protect operational integrity, the element of surprise, so it is irritating if it gets released from other sources, and I've been very clear with our friends that that should not happen again," Rudd said Wednesday.
The Home secretary said American security services had not materially harmed the British investigation but a transatlantic complaint had been made.
"I wouldn't go that far, but I can say they are perfectly clear about the situation and that it shouldn't happen again," she added.
Last week, the U.S. President Donald Trump defended his right to share classified intelligence with leaders of other countries.
Disclosure: Like CNBC, NBC is owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal unit.
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