Attack probe leaks reprehensible: US envoy

The most senior US diplomat in Britain has condemned media leaks of the investigation into the suicide bomb that killed 22 people in Manchester, saying the US government will take action to identify those responsible.

"These leaks were reprehensible, deeply distressing. We unequivocally condemn them," Lewis Lukens, US charge d'affaires in London and acting ambassador to Britain, said on BBC radio on Thursday.

"The United States government is launching an investigation into these leaks and will take appropriate action once we identify the source of the leaks," he said.

"We are determined to identify these leaks and to stop them."

Lukens' comments came as a BBC reporter said British Home Secretary Amber Rudd was "confident" that the leaks would stop.

"Home Secretary says she's 'confident' the leaks about Manchester attack to U.S. media will now end," BBC political correspondent Vicki Young said on Twitter.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Thursday she would tell US President Donald Trump that intelligence shared between their two countries had to remain secure, after the New York Times published detailed pictures of the crime scene in Manchester.

The pictures included the remains of the suspected bomb, the rucksack worn by the suicide bomber and showed bloodstains amid the wreckage.