The brother of murdered aid worker David Haines said the Manchester Arena bomber had failed in his mission to divide the city.
Peace campaigner Mike Haines was in the north of England to see the aftermath of the atrocity first hand.
Since his brother’s death at the hands of terrorists in Syria, Mr Haines has travelled the world speaking to religious leaders and schools as part of his Global Acts of Unity campaign.
The 50-year-old, from Dundee, had been in Liverpool for a scheduled meeting with police chiefs and Imams when news of the tragedy broke.
“I felt I should come across to Manchester to show my solidarity for the city,” he said.
Mr Haines said it had been a difficult day. “This has been a cowardly and repulsive act, specifically targeting woman and young woman,” he said.
“From what I know about Islam, I know that it teaches not to target women and children in this way, so he has already proven to the world that he is not a true muslim.”
Mr Haines said: “He has tried to cause division, but what he has done has had the opposite effect.
“From what I have seen today, Manchester is pulling together. People from all backgrounds and religions are uniting against this act of hatred.
“In the face of such a cowardly act of terror, we Scots, Irish, Welsh, English, we Brits – no matter race, culture, faith – will not let the cowards divide us.
“Every single one of us needs to unite our voices, stand tall and proud and say with one voice: ‘You shall not defeat us, you shall not bring hatred into our lives. We stand united against all that you stand for’.”
He added: “To target families and our youth like this is disgusting. My hearts thoughts and prayers are with all those affected in Manchester.”
During his visit to the city, Mr Haines met members of the Foundation for Peace charity.
The group was set up by the parents of 12-year old Tim Parry, with support by the family of three-year-old Johnathan Ball. Both children were killed as a direct result of an IRA bombing in Warrington in 1993.
The Global Acts of Unity campaign was launched three years ago, after former Perth Academy pupil David was murdered in a public act of terror which sent shockwaves around the world.
After the terrorist strike on Westminster Bridge in March, Mike teamed up with Brendan Cox, the husband of murder MP Jo. The pair issued a plea to “drown out the voices of hatred”.
Mike has so far spoken to more than 10,000 people as part of his peace campaign. He was in Liverpool when news of the arena bombing broke.
