A FRIEND of the Manchester Arena bomber has been convicted of funding terrorism.

Abdurahman Kaabar, 23, sent £500 to brother Mohammed, 22, who was fighting in Syria with Islamist terror group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham.

The dental student got friend Badroddin Kazkaz to wire the money after his brother told him: “Winter is coming soon. I need some equipment.”

Plymouth University student Kaabar said it was to pay for a nose op.

In messages to another man read to the jury, Kaabar said he had “close family links” with Salman Abedi — killer of 22 people at the Ariana Grande gig in Manchester in May last year.

He said: “May Allah forgive him and grant him the highest levels of Jannah (paradise).”

Kaabar, of Sheffield, who admitted possessing material useful for terrorism, was convicted of financing terrorism at the city’s crown court.

He will be sentenced next month along with Kazkaz, 23, of Sheffield, who admitted funding terrorism earlier.