President Donald Trump said the leak of data in the US media "is very disturbing." "They are a major threat to our national security," he added, speaking about the leak of data that he announced will be investigated in more detail. His remarks came after the US media has released photos of a terrorist attack site in Manchester, England earlier this week. Trump claims the data leak has been going on for a long time, and that the person will be prosecuted, the BBC writes.
Earlier, senior US diplomat in Britain, Lewis Lukens condemned the leak of data by calling it "criminal".
The BBC said it would take the necessary measures to identify the person responsible. Yesterday, the New York Times infuriated the British police and government officials by posting photographs showing the remains of the Manchester Arena after the bombing. The photographs reveal bloody traces of backpacks carried by Salman Abedi.
Data leakage hindered the investigation
High Police Officer, Ian Hopkins said he was furious about the data leak and that they will stop sharing information with the US media. He added that the disclosure of the data hindered the investigation and further disturbed families who were already under stress because of the loss of their loved ones. The New York Times has said in its defense that the released photos were not disturbing.
Prime Minister Theresa May announced that she will explain the need for discretion in such events to Donald Trump. A bit earlier, speaking at the Brussels summit, Trump said the US and British ties were inextricably linked.
The US takes full responsibility
The United States government takes full responsibility for leaking information regarding a British police investigation into an attack on Manchester in which 22 people were killed on Monday, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said.
At a press conference held with British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson in London, Tillerson said the "hearts of US citizens broke" because of news of the attack that occurred after the concert of American singer Ariana Grande in Manchester.
The British police briefly interrupted the exchange of secret data yesterday with colleagues from the United States after several details of the police investigation appeared in the US media.
"We take full responsibility for this and we are extremely sorry for what happened. We condemn the unmeasurable disclosure of this information," Tillerson said, adding that he expects close security cooperation between the United States and the UK to stop anyone else from potentially leaking information.
