News

Nation/World

NorwayKillings

The confessed killer in <a href="/topics/Norway">Norway</a>'s twin terror attacks that claimed 77 lives has presented a long list of "unrealistic" demands, including the resignation of the government and that his mental condition be investigated by Japanese specialists, his defense lawyer said Tuesday. 
Geir Lippestad told the Associated Press his client has two lists of demands. One consists of requests common among inmates such as for cigarettes and civilian clothing. The other is "unrealistic, far, far from the real world and shows he doesn't know how society works," Lippestad said by telephone. 
Lippestad said 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik links this second list to his willingness to share information about two other alleged terrorist cells that Breivik has mentioned during questioning. 
"They are completely impossible to fulfill," Lippestad said, adding that although Breivik has agreed to be examined by local psychiatrists, he also wants to be investigated by Japanese specialists. 
"He claims the Japanese understand the idea and values of honor and that a Japanese (specialist) would understand him a lot better than any European would." 
Lippestad said his client has also demanded complete political reform, in which he wants to be assigned a key role. 
"His demands here includes the complete overthrowing of both the Norwegian and European societies," he said, noting it includes the resignation of the Norwegian government but declined to give further details. "But it shows that he doesn't understand the situation he's in." 
Lippestad said he last met his client on Friday, but has scheduled another meeting with him later this week. 
Breivik claims he carried out the attacks as part of a network of modern-day crusaders — the Knights Templar — to launch a revolution against a Europe spoiled by Muslim immigration, and that there are other cells ready to strike. 
Investigators say they have found no signs of a larger conspiracy. Still, they are searching his computer and cell phone records for any signs of contact with other right-wing extremists who may have helped or influenced him. 
At a news conference later Tuesday, Prosecutor Christian Hatlo said police had now finalized its investigation at the site of the bombing in <a href="/topics/Norway">Norway</a>'s government quarter that left eight dead, but are still working to secure evidence at the site of the <a href="/topics/Labor_Party">Labor Party</a> youth camp massacre. 
Rescue workers have now begun to clean up the Utoya island camp by collecting and returning personal items left behind by the victims, he said. 
Ronny Frantzen, one of the first rescue workers to reach the island during the gun spree, told national news agency NTB that he returned to Utoya with mixed emotions. 
"It was frightening to come out to the island and see the tent camp where these horrible acts had been committed," he said. "But even if we're painfully aware of the tragedy that happened here, it's not something that is visible to a very large degree here on Utoya." 
One of the eight volunteers from Frantzen's aid organization was killed by Breivik on the island. 
The July 22 bombing in Norway's government quarter in Oslo killed eight people and the shooting massacre at an annual summer camp held by the <a href="/topics/Labor_Party">Labor Party</a>'s youth wing on Utoya island claimed an additional 69 lives. 
If Breivik is tried and convicted of terrorism he could face up to 21 years in prison. An alternative custody arrangement, however, could keep him behind bars indefinitely.

World

wornorw03

Lawyer: Norwegian attacker makes demands 

VPANDERS

Warning voters about the danger of increasing Muslim influence in Norway, the Progress Party rode a wave of anti-immigrant feeling and took nearly a quarter of the seats in parliament in the country's last election. 
Now one of Europe's most successful right-wing parties is on the defensive after one of its former members massacred 77 people in the name of fighting immigration. 
The Progress Party has confirmed that Anders Behring Breivik, the confessed perpetrator of last month's massacre, was a member between 1999 and 2006. That has focused intense criticism on its platform of sharply cutting the immigration that is changing Norway's once virtually homogenous population of white Christians. 
"They have to change their tone," said Magnus Takvam, a political commentator for Norwegian public broadcaster NRK. "They have to reconsider their vocabulary." 
Progress Party leader <a href="/topics/Siv_Jensen">Siv Jensen</a> has been criticized for warning of a stealth Islamization of Norway. And in May, the party's leader in Oslo called the governing <a href="/topics/Labor_Party">Labor Party</a>'s immigration policy a "demographic experiment" and said a left-wing political elite was allowing Western civilization to be eroded by Muslim immigrants with opposing values. 
Breivik also condemned leftists for their tolerant attitude towards immigrants from the Muslim world, but Jensen, 42, noted that he condemned all of Norway's political parties, "mine included," in the rambling 1,500-word manifesto he released before the massacre. 
Breivik, 32, says he grew disillusioned with the party and concluded that the only way to stop what he called the "Islamization" of Norway and Europe was through armed struggle. Breivik has confessed to the twin terror attacks — a bombing of Oslo's government quarter and a shooting rampage at a Labor Party youth camp — that killed 77 people. 
"He has obviously developed some very, very strange, sick ideas over the years," Jensen told The Associated Press. "His manifesto is perversely unique and cannot be linked to any organization or legal political party of Norway." 
First elected into Parliament in 1973, the Progress Party has steadily gained support for its calls to sharply cut immigration and lower taxes, primarily by spending more of Norway's oil revenue now, instead of saving it for future generations. 
No longer a maverick opposition group, the Progress Party now boasts support that few of its counterparts in Europe can match. It won 41 of the 169 seats in Parliament in the 2009 election, its best result ever. Only the Labor Party is bigger, with 64 seats. 
But the July 22 terror attacks, which shook Norway to the core, have generated a wave of sympathy for Prime Minister <a href="/topics/Jens_Stoltenberg">Jens Stoltenberg</a>'s Labor Party, the apparent target of the attacks. Polls show its support surging, ahead of local elections in September. 
Jensen said Breivik kept a low profile in the party and never revealed his murderous plans. 
"He didn't say much, he didn't do much, he didn't take part in our activities at all," Jensen told AP in her wood-paneled office decorated with an American flag — a gift from <a href="/topics/U.S._Republican_Party">Republicans</a> Abroad — and a tiny bust of President <a href="/topics/Ronald_Reagan">Ronald Reagan</a>. "So we could not foresee any of this." 
In his manifesto, Breivik says he left the Progress Party after concluding "that it would be impossible to change the system democratically." Describing himself as a defender of Europe's Christian heritage, he couldn't accept that once homogenous Norway is now an increasingly diverse nation, where more than 12 percent of the 5 million residents are immigrants or children of immigrants — about half of them from Asia, <a href="/topics/Africa">Africa</a> or <a href="/topics/Latin_America">Latin America</a>. 
The number of Muslims is unclear because people aren't registered by religious affiliation, but estimates range between 2 percent and 4 percent of the population. 
Stoltenberg's Labor Party embraces the idea of Norway as a multicultural nation, though it doesn't advocate unfettered immigration. 
Stoltenberg has won praise for his statesmanlike demeanor following the attacks, calling for the nation to unite behind its ideals of peace, democracy and tolerance. His expressions of grief for the victims — some of whom he knew — have come across as genuine and heartfelt, and he has personally attended several funerals. 
In a speech to Parliament on Monday, Stoltenberg urged all political parties to "choose our words more carefully in the future" in what was seen as subtle criticism of the Progress Party's rhetoric on immigration. 
Jensen didn't see it that way, saying political leaders of all stripes have at times said something they regret. She suggested that campaigning for the local elections, postponed until mid-August because of the attacks, will be carried out in a less divisive manner than usual. 
"I think she should not escape so easily," said Mehtab Afsar, secretary general of the Islamic Council of Norway, an umbrella group with some 70,000 members. "I think they have to think about what is so attractive in their program that people like Breivik come joining the party."

Norway's right-wing on defensive after attacks 

Norway-Rightwing Leader

The anti-Muslim extremist who confessed to a bombing and youth camp massacre that killed 77 people in Norway has told investigators he also considered attacking other targets linked to the government or the prime minister's <a href="/topics/Labor_Party">Labor Party</a>, police said Saturday. 
During a 10-hour questioning session on Friday, Anders Behring Breivik asked interrogators how many people he had killed in the July 22 attacks, and "showed no emotion" when they told him, police attorney Paal-Fredrik Hjort Kraby told reporters in Oslo. 
The 32-year-old Norwegian has confessed to setting off a car bomb that killed eight people in downtown Oslo and then gunning down scores of youth from the left-leaning Labor Party at their annual retreat on an island northwest of the capital. Sixy-nine of them died. 
Kraby said Breivik had considered other possible targets to attack as he prepared what Norway's Police Security Service has described as a meticulously prepared by a "lone-wolf" attacker. 
"The other targets were government and Labor Party targets," Kraby said. 
He declined to confirm a report in Norwegian tabloid VG saying Breivik had described the Royal Palace and the Labor Party's head office as potential targets. The paper did not cite its sources. 
"They were targets that one would say are natural for terror attacks," Kraby told reporters. 
Breivik released a 1,500-page manifesto before the attacks in which he ranted against Muslims and a left-wing political elite he claims is destroying Europe's cultural heritage by allowing unfettered immigration. 
Norwegian authorities say he wasn't in their database of right-wing extremists and appears to have prepared his attacks for years, without telling anyone, even his friends and family. They <a href="/topics/Haven_%28show%29">haven</a>'t found anything to support his claims of being part of a militant network of modern-day crusaders plotting a series of coups d'etat across Europe. 
Norway started burying the dead on Friday and Cabinet ministers have honored the victims in tearful memorial services in both churches and mosques. Prime Minister <a href="/topics/Jens_Stoltenberg">Jens Stoltenberg</a> has called for unity across ethnic and religious lines in face of the greatest tragedy Norway has faced in peacetime.

naNorway30

Norway suspect was considering other targets 

Anders Behring Breivik, Norway shooting

The gunman who shot and killed 68 people at a youth camp in <a href="/topics/Norway">Norway</a> last week purchased 10 high-capacity ammunition magazines from an American supplier, Rep. <a href="/topics/Carolyn_McCarthy">Carolyn McCarthy</a> said Thursday. 
The purchase prompted McCarthy (D-<a href="/topics/Mineola%2C_NY">Mineola</a>) to renew calls for passage of a bill she has previously sponsored that would prohibit the sale or transfer of high-capacity magazines. 
"This is another tragic example of our lack of commonsense <a href="/topics/Gun_Control">gun laws</a> failing us with deadly consequences," McCarthy said in a statement, "allowing a cold-blooded killer to easily acquire the tools of mass murder even from another country." 
In a section of his 1,500-page manifesto titled "December and January -- Rifle, gun accessories purchased," alleged gunman Anders Behring Breivik wrote: "10 x 30 round magazines -- .223 cal at 34 USD [U.S. dollars] per mag. Had to buy through a smaller U.S. supplier (who again ordered from other suppliers) as most suppliers have export limitations. An alternative supplier was located in Sweden but it would have cost 1.5 times more, Total cost: 550 USD." 
Breivik, who also is accused of killing eight in an Oslo bombing the day of his shooting rampage, does not name the supplier. 
Also in the manifesto, Breivik expresses admiration for comparatively loose <a href="/topics/Gun_Control">gun laws</a> in the United States, writing that he envies "our European American brothers as the <a href="/topics/Gun_Control">gun laws</a> in Europe" are weak in comparison." 
Officials with the <a href="/topics/National_Rifle_Association">National Rifle Association</a> which has opposed McCarthy's measure, could not immediately be reached for comment. 
<a href="/topics/Tom_King">Tom King</a>, president of the <a href="/topics/New_York_%28state%29">New York</a> State Rifle &amp; Pistol Association, said Breivik was a madman who knowingly chose to attack at a location where he would not face others armed with firearms. Given how long it took police to respond to the youth camp, Breivik would have been able to inflict heavy casualties whether he'd used magazines with two rounds or with 30, <a href="/topics/Tom_King">King</a> said. 
"This is typical of Ms. McCarthy and everybody else involved in the nation's anti-gun movement," <a href="/topics/Tom_King">King</a> said. "They will take any disaster and try to spin it to their best interest. And that's what's happening here." 
McCarthy's office said her bill has been reintroduced several times since the 2004 expiration of a federal assault weapons ban that barred the sale or transfer of high-capacity magazines made after 1994. The bill remains in committee and McCarthy is in the minority, limiting its chances for passage. 
Under the federal law that was allowed to expire, any magazine holding more than 10 rounds was considered high-capacity. McCarthy's bill uses the same standard. 
In recent years, high-capacity magazines were used in lethal mass shootings in Tucson, Ariz., <a href="/topics/Binghamton%2C_NY">Binghamton</a>, N.Y., and at <a href="/topics/Virginia_Tech">Virginia Tech</a> in <a href="/topics/Blacksburg%2C_VA">Blacksburg, Va</a>., and Fort Hood, <a href="/topics/Texas">Texas</a>, McCarthy's office said. 
The magazines were also used in a mass shooting in 1993 on the <a href="/topics/Long_Island_Rail_Road">Long Island Rail Road</a> in which McCarthy's husband was killed and her son injured. 
With Tom Brune

Long Island

Crime

USMCCA29

McCarthy: Suspect got ammo clips from U.S.

usMCCA25 -- cropped

&nbsp; 
Norway cast it as the isolated act of a lone-wolf terrorist, whose boasts of a far-flung network of anti-Muslim warriors were the fantasies of a deranged mind. 
European officials at an emergency counter-terror meeting see a continent-wide threat from right-<a href="/topics/Wing_%28musician%29">wing</a> extremists amid mounting Islamophobia — and warn of possible copycats. 
Two visions of the Norway atrocity emerged Thursday, as Europe gropes for answers following an atrocity that claimed 78 people lives. 
While a picture emerged of a solitary killer, the attack carried out by Anders Behring Breivik has stirred questions in Europe about whether authorities have neglected the threat of right-wing extremists in their push to crack down on Islamist terror groups after 9/11. 
Security officials insist they have not, and statistics from European police agency Europol show no surge in right-wing terror. 
Still, many politicians saw the Norway attacks as a violent expression of a far-right populist movement that has swept anti-Muslim parties calling for strict cuts in immigration into parliaments across the continent. 
At an emergency meeting on the far-right threat, <a href="/topics/European_Union">European Union</a> counterterrorism officials warned radicals who share Breivik's ideology might be tempted to follow his lead. 
"Clearly, one major risk is that somebody may actually try to mount a similar attack as a copycat attack or as a way of showing support," said Tim Jones, principal adviser to the <a href="/topics/European_Union">EU</a>'s counterterrorism coordinator. In September, EU interior ministers are to meet to discuss responses to the Norway <a href="/topics/Massacre_%28musician%29">massacre</a>. 
Across Europe, far-right groups were quick to distance themselves from the Norway attacker. <a href="/topics/Geert_Wilders">Geert Wilders</a> of the Netherlands' right-wing Party for Freedom tweeted: "Terrible attack in Oslo, many innocent victims of violent, sick mind." 
But some political leaders in Holland, which like Norway has grappled with an increasingly fractious debate about Muslim integration, said firebrand anti-Islamic rhetoric can fire the mind of a man like Breivik, who referred to Wilders repeatedly in his sprawling manifesto. 
"Wilders has now distanced himself," said Dutch <a href="/topics/Labor_Party">Labor Party</a> head <a href="/topics/Job_Cohen">Job Cohen</a>. "But I think it's good to realize that your words do have an effect — and that goes for all politicians including Wilders. They can influence people and play a role in all kinds of ways." 
Ahead of Thursday's emergency counterterror meeting, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom spoke of a "huge lack of political leadership" in allowing right-wing sentiment to bleed into the mainstream. 
"Blaming Islam or immigration for all sorts of problems has become normal," Malmstrom told the <a href="/topics/Brussels">Brussels</a>-based European Voice newspaper. She cited a "permissive climate" in which such views "are no longer seen as extreme." 
German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said Germany's intelligence agencies had far-right groups under "intensive" surveillance, but there was a greater risk in extremists like Breivik who operate alone and under the radar. 
"Among the right extremists we know of some who could be dangerous, but they're not the problem — those who we have an eye on — but rather those who radicalize in secret," he told the Rheinische Post. 
European security officials, on high alert following the July 22 attacks against Norway's government and a Labor Party youth camp, say no information has emerged to support Breivik's claim that he's a member of a shadowy group of modern-day crusaders, with cells all over Europe. 
The head of Norwegian security service PST said the 32-year-old Breivik, most likely did it all on his own — concocting, planning, and executing the massacre with near-total precision, and without telling anyone else of his murderous designs. 
"He's devoted his life to this mission, if you can call it a mission," PST director Janne Kristiansen told The Associated Press. 
She said Norway's laws, with strict limits on when and how the government is allowed to spy on its citizens, may have to be changed to give authorities a better chance to detect lone wolves who live an outwardly lawful and moderate lifestyle. 
"We will sit down and go through all our laws and regulations. Can we do something differently?" Kristiansen said. "We will do that with our sister agencies all over Europe. I'm certain that my colleagues want to talk to me about 'what can we do if we are in the same position.'" 
Breivik has admitted that he set off a car bomb in the government district of Oslo, killing at least eight people, then launched a shooting spree at the ruling Labor Party's annual youth camp. Sixty-eight people died, many of them teenagers. 
Magnus Norell, a terror expert at the Swedish Defense Research Agency, cautioned against drawing far-reaching conclusions about the strength of right-wing groups from the attacks. 
There is a risk that Breivik's actions could inspire like-minded to try something similar. "But it's highly unlikely that this would trigger a wave of lone wolves who could pull off this type of complicated operation," he said. "It remains difficult to do this kind of thing yourself." 
In a manifesto released just before the attacks, Breivik describes in detail how he secured weapons and bomb-making ingredients, including fertilizer. Most plots fail during that stage, experts say. But Breivik had the discipline to stay totally mum about his plans, which is highly unusual. 
"The Norwegians have his computer," said Bob Ayers, a London-based former U.S. intelligence officer. "If there was significant dialogue, there would have been a footprint. Acting alone gave him the advantage of not being watched by security personnel." 
Security officials in Norway, Germany and <a href="/topics/United_Kingdom">Britain</a> said they had found nothing to support Breivik's claims of belonging to a network bent on starting a revolution aimed at ridding Europe of Muslims. 
"The Norwegian authorities have said they haven't found any links to Britain that are of concern," a <a href="/topics/Scotland_Yard">Scotland Yard</a> spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak about ongoing police inquiries. "We wouldn't contradict that." 
Still, police were on high alert across Europe: Finnish officers said they had arrested an 18-year-old man who ordered 22 pounds (10 kilograms) of fertilizer from Poland to build make explosives. Police said the case appeared to have no connections to the massacre; the national broadcaster YLE cited police as saying the man told them he wanted to make fireworks. 
Kristiansen, the Norwegian security chief, said Breivik appeared to be a unique case. 
"It's a unique person. He is total evil," she said. 
The national sense of heartbreak is being renewed daily as police slowly release names of the dead. Later Thursday, 24 names were added to the list, including 23-year old Tamta Lipartelliani from Georgia who died at the camp, setting the confirmed total by police at 41. 
&nbsp;

wonor29

Norway's 'lone-wolf' attacks stir angst in Europe 

Norway Massacre

Five days after an attacker incensed by Norway's culture of tolerance horrified the world, Prime Minister <a href="/topics/Jens_Stoltenberg">Jens Stoltenberg</a> on Wednesday issued a quiet call of defiance to his countrymen: Make Norway even more open and accepting. 
"The Norwegian response to violence is more democracy, more openness and greater political participation," Stoltenberg insisted at a news conference. 
His promise in the face of twin attacks that killed 76 people signaled a contrast to the U.S. response after the 9/11 attacks, when Washington gave more leeway to perform wiretaps and to search records. 
It reflects the difference between the two countries' approaches to terrorism: The U.S. has been frustrated by what it considers Scandinavia's lack of aggressive investigation and arrests. 
"I think what we have seen is that there is going to be one Norway before and one Norway after July 22," the day an anti-immigration extremist bombed Oslo's government quarter and slaughtered dozens at the left-leaning <a href="/topics/Labor_Party">Labor Party</a>'s youth camp, Stoltenberg said. 
"But I hope and also believe that the Norway we will see after will be more open, a more tolerant society than what we had before." 
Stoltenberg strongly defended the right to speak freely — even if it includes extremist views such as those held by Anders Behring Breivik, the 32-year-old Norwegian who has confessed to the attacks and claimed they were necessary to fight what he called Muslim colonization and multiculturalism. 
"We have to be very clear to distinguish between extreme views, opinions — that's completely legal, legitimate to have. What is not legitimate is to try to implement those extreme views by using violence," he said in English. 
Since the attacks, Stoltenberg and Norwegian family members have underlined the country's openness by making public appearances with little visible security guarding them. 
The prime minister, perhaps mindful of many Norwegians' reserved ways, urged the country to fully grieve: "I have cried, and I have told many people that they should not hesitate to cry." 
The national sense of heartbreak is being renewed daily as police slowly release names of the dead; the identities of only 17 of the 68 known to have been killed have been officially confirmed. 
One those named Wednesday was the youngest-known victim so far — camper Sharidyn Svebakk-Boehn, who turned 14 five days before the rampage. 
An employee of Stoltenberg's office, 51-year-old Anne Lise Holter, was confirmed Wednesday as one of the eight dead in the bomb blast. A stepbrother of Crown Princess Mette-Matrit, police officer Trond Berntsen, was confirmed as one of those killed on the island, where the 51-year-old was providing security. 
Stoltenberg said an independent commission will be formed to investigate the attacks and determine what lessons can be learned from the response. The commission also is to help survivors and relatives cope with the aftermath. Parliament said it is willing to help pay for funerals, and there will be a monument built to commemorate the victims. 
Police earlier gave an eerie account of the end of the siege, where the man who had committed slaughter for more than an hour obediently gave up the moment police approached him, holding his hands over his head. 
"It was a completely normal arrest," said officer Haavard Gaasbakk. 
Earlier, the leader of Norway's Delta Force anti-terror police unit defended the special operations team, saying the breakdown of a boat didn't cause a significant delay in efforts to reach the island. 
Police have come under close scrutiny over how long it took them to reach the island after first reports of shots being fired at the island youth camp Friday. Although the island is only about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the Norwegian capital, police needed 90 minutes to get to the scene. 
Police were already grappling with the wide damage inflicted in the downtown government quarter. When word of the shooting came, police drove rather than take a helicopter because the crew of the sole chopper available to them was on vacation. Then the first boat they tried to take to the lake island broke down. The team jumped into other boats and got to Utoya without much delay, police officials said. 
Norwegian media are suggesting that police knew Breivik's identity even before they reached the island, tracing him through a rental car company from which he rented the panel van in which the bomb was planted. 
Dag Andre Johansen, Scandinavian CEO of <a href="/topics/Avis_Budget_Group%2C_Inc.">Avis</a> car rental company, told the AP that Breivik had rented two vehicles, including a Volkswagen Crafter van. He said police contacted the company after the bombing and got Breivik's identity confirmed. But he declined to say whether that contact came before Breivik was arrested on the island. 
Many in Oslo felt a new twinge of worry on Wednesday morning when parts of the capital's rail and bus complex was evacuated because of a suspicious abandoned suitcase. Police later said no explosives were found and that the evacuation order had been lifted. The Norwegian news agency NTB said a bus driver turned in the alarm after seeing a passenger leave the suitcase and walk into the station at a fast clip.

wornor28

Norway PM: After attacks, make country more open

In the wake of terrorism and mass murder in Norway, people will clamor to understand what the incident means. Because the accused justified his acts with a hatred of Islam and a condemnation of his government for accommodating Muslims, some will debate, decry and even defend the slaughter. Many will search for its meaning. 
This act though, and all such acts, signify nothing more than the existence of a savage and brutal evil in this world. They do not represent or reflect "the problems of society," Norwegian or otherwise. They do not prove points about multiculturalism, or instinctive discomfort with multiculturalism, or liberalism or conservatism or patriotism or Christianity or Islam. 
If Anders Bering Breivik killed nearly 80 people on Friday, he is a monstrous and callous murderer, not a messenger. 
Breivik is accused of having bombed a government building in downtown <a href="/topics/Oslo%2C_Norway">Oslo</a> Friday, possibly as a way to distract security forces from his next rampage. Ninety minutes later, dressed as a police officer, Breivik allegedly opened fire on about 600 young people at a political camp who had gathered together during their island retreat to get more information on what had happened in downtown <a href="/topics/Oslo%2C_Norway">Oslo</a>. 
While his 1,500-page screed, published on the Internet just hours before this deadly spree, suggests he wishes to be considered a philosopher or teacher, we shouldn't grant him that honor by parsing his work. 
As for lessons, the one we can learn here is an echo of the knowledge gained in a Hasidic neighborhood in Brooklyn two weeks ago. What is shocking about Breivik, 32 and icily handsome, is that he is so classically Norwegian, and in what had traditionally been such a peaceful and homogeneous society, seemingly trustworthy merely by dint of his appearance. 
What was shocking about the dismembering of 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky was that his alleged killer was exactly the type of man he had been told to trust, a fellow Hasid whose dress, hair and beard resembled his father's. We are instinctively drawn to people like us. We feel comfortable with them, and assume empathy. We know we are not killers, and think anyone who is so violent would look and act very differently than we and our loved ones do. 
But surrounding ourselves only with people who look, speak, dress, think and worship like us doesn't make us any safer. That's likely always been true, but many of us are only now learning it, and in the most horrifying possible way.

Opinion

VPNORWAY26

In Norway, evil beyond debate

Norway Explosion

The self-described perpetrator of one of the worst modern mass murders in peacetime told Norwegian authorities that that he expects to spend the rest of his life in prison but two other cells of his terror network remain free, officials said Monday. 
Anders Behring <a href="/topics/Anders_Behring_Breivik">Breivik</a> has admitted bombing Norway's capital and opening fire on a political youth group retreat, but he entered a plea of not guilty, saying he wanted to save <a href="/topics/Europe">Europe</a> from Muslim immigration. 
Prosecutor Christian Hatlo told reporters that Breivik was very calm and "seemed unaffected by what has happened." He said Breivik told investigators during his interrogation that he never expected to be released. 
Police announced, meanwhile, that they had dramatically overcounted the number of people slain in a shooting spree at a political youth group's island retreat and were lowering the confirmed death toll from 86 to 68. 
The overall toll in the attack now stands at 76 instead of 93. Police spokesman Oystein Maeland said that higher, erroneous figure emerged as police and rescuers were focusing on helping survivors and securing the area, but he did not immediately explain more about how the overcounting occurred. 
Police also raised the toll from a bombing outside the government's headquarters in <a href="/topics/Oslo%2C_Norway">Oslo</a> before the shooting spree, from seven to eight. 
Peaceful, liberal Norway has been stunned by the bombing in downtown <a href="/topics/Oslo%2C_Norway">Oslo</a> and the shooting massacre at a youth camp outside the capital, which the suspect said were intended to start a revolution to inspire Norwegians to retake their country from Muslims and other immigrants. He blames liberals for championing multiculturalism over Norway's "indigenous" culture. 
Police have said Breivik used two weapons during the rampage — both of which were bought legally, according to the manifesto. A doctor treating victims told The Associated Press that the gunman used illegal "dum-dum"-style bullets bullets designed to disintegrate inside the body and cause maximum internal damage. 
The court ordered him Breivik held for eight weeks while prosecutors investigate, four of which will be in isolation, saying Breivik could tamper with evidence if released. Typically, the accused is brought to court every four weeks while prosecutors prepare their case, so a judge can approve his continued detention. Longer periods are not unusual in serious cases. 
Breivik made clear in an Internet manifesto that he planned to turn his court appearance into theater, preparing a speech for his appearance in court even before launching the attacks, then requesting an open hearing in which he would wear a uniform. Both of those requests were denied. 
The suspect has said staged the bombing and youth camp rampage as "marketing" for his manifesto calling for a revolution that would rid <a href="/topics/Europe">Europe</a> of Muslims. 
"The operation was not to kill as many people as possible but to give a strong signal that could not be misunderstood that as long as the <a href="/topics/Labor_Party">Labor Party</a> keeps driving its ideological lie and keeps deconstructing Norwegian culture and mass importing Muslims then they must assume responsibility for this treason," according to the English translation of Heger's ruling that was read out after the hearing. 
Breivik alluded to two other "cells" of his network — which he imagines as a new Knights Templar, the medieval cabal of crusaders who protected Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land. At one point, his manifesto briefly referred to an intention to contact two other cells, but no details were given. 
European security officials said they were aware of increased Internet chatter from individuals claiming they belonged to the Knights Templar group and were investigating claims that Breivik, and other far-right individuals, attended a <a href="/topics/London">London</a> meeting of the group in 2002. 
Reporters and locals thronged the courthouse on Monday ahead of the hearing for their first glimpse of Breivik since the assault. When one car drove through the crowd, people hit its windows and one person shouted an expletive, believing Breivik was inside.

wonorw26

Norway rampage culprit calm, expects life in jail

Anders Behring Breivik, Norway attacks

Parts of the manifesto written by the suspect in Norway's terrorist attack were taken almost word for word from the writings of "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski. 
The passages copied by Anders Behring Breivik appear in the first few pages of Kaczynski's manifesto. Breivik changed a Kaczynski screed on leftism and what he considered to be leftists' "feelings of inferiority" — mainly by substituting the words "multiculturalism" or "cultural Marxism" for "leftism." 
Breivik is accused of killing at least 93 people Friday by setting off an explosion in downtown <a href="/topics/Oslo%2C_Norway">Oslo</a> and then gunning down campers on a nearby island. Kaczynski is in federal prison for mail bombs that killed three people. 
Breivik did not cite Kaczynski, though he did for others whose writings he used.

WOnorway25.web

Norway suspect borrowed from Unabomber's manifesto 

Unambomber/Norway Shooting-cropped

Police say the suspect in twin attacks in Norway still had a lot of ammunition when he surrendered. 
Anders Behring Breivik is accused of planting a bomb in downtown <a href="/topics/Oslo%2C_Norway">Oslo</a>, then opening fire on young people attending an island political retreat. He surrendered once a SWAT team reached him, but 86 people died on the island before that. Another seven were killed in the bombing in the capital. 
Police Chief Sveinung Sponheim said Sunday that Breivij still had "a considerable amount" of ammunition for both of his weapons when he gave himself up.

NORshoot25.web

Norway suspect had ammunition when he surrendered 

Norway Explosion - cropped

Arrested gunman Anders Behring Breivik worked 9 years on a "manifesto" that blamed multi-culturalists, Marxists and Muslims for <a href="/topics/Europe">Europe</a>'s problems and urged violent means to purge <a href="/topics/Europe">Europe</a> of non-Christians and those he deemed traitors to Christian Europe. His lawyer says he posted it online just before a rampage that killed nearly 100 people. 
Here are several brief excerpts that illustrate the nature of his writing and his obsessions as he carried out one of the worst crimes in Europe since <a href="/topics/World_War_II">World War II</a>. 
____ 
"I have spent several years writing, researching and compiling the information and I have spent most of my hard earned funds in this process (in excess of 300 000 Euros). I do not want any compensation for it as it is a gift to you, as a fellow patriot." 
____ 
"Multi-culturalism (cultural Marxism/political correctness), as you might know, is the root cause of the ongoing Islamisation of Europe which has resulted in the ongoing Islamic colonisation of Europe through demographic warfare (facilitated by our own leaders)." 
____ 
"In order to successfully penetrate the cultural Marxist/multiculturalist media censorship we are forced to employ significantly more brutal and breath taking operations which will result in casualties. In order for the attack to gain an influential effect, assassinations and the use of weapons of mass destruction must be embraced." 
____ 
"The ideology that has taken over <a href="/topics/Western_Europe">Western Europe</a> goes most commonly by the name of "Political Correctness." Some people see it as a joke. It is not. It is deadly serious. It seeks to alter virtually all the rules, formal and informal, that govern relations among people and institutions. It wants to change behaviour, thought, even the words we use." 
____ 
"Christendom is gradually being deconstructed. It is time that the Pope and his cardinals begin to resist the deliberate deconstruction of European Christendom. The process would, however, be quite challenging, but worth the effort as all Justiciar Knights who dies for their faith will be a great source of inspiration for generations to come. They will be role models. Certain, exceptionally brave and selfless, Justiciar Knights in the coming decades should even be considered as candidates for official veneration." 
____ 
"I have never in my life felt that I have done anything more meaningful than what I am doing now regardless of the lack of moral support from my founding brothers or other armed resistance fighters." 
____ 
"I believe this will be my last entry. It is now Fri July 22nd, 12.51."

Excerpts from Norway gunman's manifesto 

Manifesto Cover - cropped

The man blamed for the terrorist attacks on Norway's government headquarters and an island retreat for young people that left at least 93 dead was motivated by a desire to bring about a revolution in Norwegian society, his lawyer said Sunday. 
A manifesto he published online — which police are poring over and said was posted the day of the attack — ranted against Muslim immigration to <a href="/topics/Europe">Europe</a> and vowed revenge on "indigenous Europeans," whom he accused of betraying their heritage. It said that they would be punished for their "treasonous acts." 
The lawyer for the 32-year-old Norwegian suspect, Anders Behring Breivik, said Sunday that his client wrote the document alone. While police said they were investigating reports of a second assailant on the island, the lawyer said Breivik claims also claims no one helped him. 
The treatise detailed plans to acquire firearms and explosives, and even appeared to describe a test explosion: "BOOM! The detonation was successful!!!" It ends with a note dated 12:51 p.m. on July 22: "I believe this will be my last entry." 
That day, a bomb killed seven people in downtown <a href="/topics/Oslo%2C_Norway">Oslo</a> and, hours later, a gunman opened fire on dozens of young people at a retreat on Utoya island. Police said Sunday that the death toll in the shooting rose to 86. 
That brings the number of fatalities to 93, with more than 90 wounded. There are still people missing at both scenes. Police have not released the names of any of the victims. 
Police said Sunday that a police officer had been hired to provide security on the island on his own time. It was not clear who hired him or if he was on the island at the time of the attacks. 
Dr. Colin Poole, head of surgery at Ringriket Hospital in Honefoss northwest of <a href="/topics/Oslo%2C_Norway">Oslo</a>, told The Associated Press the gunman used special bullets designed to disintegrate inside the body and cause maximum internal damage. Poole said surgeons treating 16 gunshot victims have recovered no full bullets. 
"These bullets more or less exploded inside the body," Poole said. "It's caused us all kinds of extra problems in dealing with the wounds they cause, with very strange trajectories." 
Ballistics experts say the so-called dum-dum bullets also are lighter in weight and can be fired with greater accuracy over varying distances. They commonly are used by air marshals and hunters of small animals. 
Six hearses pulled up at the shore of the lake surrounding the island on Sunday, as rescuers on boats continued to search for bodies in the water. Body parts remain inside the Oslo building, which housed the prime minister's office. In a chilling allusion to the fact that the tragedy could have even been greater, police said Sunday that Breivik still had "a considerable amount" of ammunition for both his guns — a pistol and an automatic weapon — when he surrendered. 
Police and his lawyer have said that Breivik confessed to the twin attacks, but denied criminal responsibility for a day that shook peaceful Norway to its core and was the deadliest ever in peacetime. Breivik has been charged with terrorism and will be arraigned on Monday. 
Geir Lippestad, Breivik's lawyer, said his client has asked for an open court hearing "because he wants to explain himself." 
Police Chief Sveinung Sponheim said a forensics expert from Interpol would join the investigation on Sunday. 
European security officials said Sunday they were aware of increased Internet chatter from individuals claiming they belonged to the Knights Templar group that Breivik refers to in the manifesto. They said they were still investigating claims that Breivik, and other far-right individuals, attended a <a href="/topics/London">London</a> meeting of the group in 2002. The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the investigation. 
The officials would also not immediately confirm that they had been aware of Breivik as a potential threat. 
As authorities pursued the suspect's motives, Oslo mourned the victims. Norway's <a href="/topics/King_Harald_V">King Harald V</a> and his wife Queen Sonja and Prime Minister <a href="/topics/Jens_Stoltenberg">Jens Stoltenberg</a> crowded into Oslo Cathedral, where the pews were packed, and people spilled into the plaza outside the building. The area was strewn with flowers and candles, and people who could not fit in the grand church huddled under umbrellas in a drizzle. 
The king and queen both wiped tears from their eyes during the service for "sorrow and hope." 
Afterward, people sobbed and hugged one another in the streets, as many lingered over the memorial of flowers and candles. The royal couple and prime minister later visited the site of the bombing in Oslo. 
More was coming to light Sunday about the man who police say confessed to a car bomb at government headquarters in Oslo and then, hours later, opening fire on young people at an island political retreat. 
Both targets were linked to Norway's left-leaning <a href="/topics/Labor_Party">Labor Party</a>. Breivik's manifesto pillories the political correctness of liberals and warns that their work will end in the colonization of <a href="/topics/Europe">Europe</a> by Muslims. 
Such fears may derive, at least in part, from the fact that Norway has grown increasingly multicultural in recent years as the prosperous Nordic nation has opened its arms to thousands of conflict refugees from <a href="/topics/Pakistan">Pakistan</a>, <a href="/topics/Iraq">Iraq</a> and <a href="/topics/Somalia">Somalia</a>. The <a href="/topics/Labor_Party">Labor Party</a> retreat — which Prime Minister Stoltenberg fondly remembered attending summer after summer himself — reflected the country's changing demographic as the children of immigrants get more involved in politics. 
The assaults have rattled largely peaceful Norway, home to the <a href="/topics/Nobel_Prize">Nobel Prize</a> for Peace and where the average policeman patrolling in the streets doesn't carry a firearm. Norwegians pride themselves on the openness of their society and cherish the idea of free expression. 
"He wanted a change in society and, from his perspective, he needed to force through a revolution," Lippestad, the lawyer, told public broadcaster NRK. "He wished to attack society and the structure of society." 
Lippestad said Breivik spent years writing the 1,500-page manifesto entitled, "2083 - A European Declaration of Independence." It was signed "Andrew Berwick." The date was referred to later in the document as the year that coups d'etat would engulf Europe and overthrow the elite he maligns. 
Sponheim, the police chief, said there was no indication whether Breivik had selected his targets or fired randomly on the island. The manifesto vowed revenge on those it accused of betraying Europe. 
"We, the free indigenous peoples of Europe, hereby declare a pre-emptive war on all cultural Marxist/multiculturalist elites of <a href="/topics/Western_Europe">Western Europe</a>. ... We know who you are, where you live and we are coming for you," the document said. "We are in the process of flagging every single multculturalist traitor in <a href="/topics/Western_Europe">Western Europe</a>. You will be punished for your treasonous acts against Europe and Europeans." 
The use of an anglicized pseudonym could be explained by a passage in the manifesto describing the founding, in April 2002 in <a href="/topics/London">London</a>, of a group he calls a new Knights Templar. <a href="/topics/The_Knights">The Knights</a> Templar was a medieval order created to protect Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land after the First Crusade. 
A 12-minute video clip posted on <a href="/topics/YouTube">YouTube</a> with the same title as the manifesto featured symbolic imagery of the Knights Templar and crusader kings as well as slides suggesting Europe is being overrun by Muslims. Police could not confirm that Breivik had posted the video, which also featured photographs of him dressed in a formal military uniform and in a wet suit pointing an assault rifle. 
The video was a series of slides that accused the left in Europe of allowing Muslims to overrun the continent: One image showed the BBC's logo with the "C'' changed into an Islamic crescent. Another referenced the former <a href="/topics/Soviet_Union">Soviet Union</a>, declaring that the end result of the left's actions would be an "EUSSR." 
In London, the leader of Ramadhan Foundation, one of <a href="/topics/United_Kingdom">Britain</a>'s largest Muslim groups, said mosques are being extra vigilant in the wake of the attacks. Mohammed Shafiq told The Associated Press he was talking to other European Muslim leaders and British police about the need to increase security. 
The last 100 pages apparently lay out details of Breivik's social and personal life, including his steroid use and an intention to solicit prostitutes in the days before the attack. 
Also Sunday, police carried out raids in an Oslo neighborhood on suspicion of explosives. Police spokesman Henning Holtaas said no explosives were found and no one was arrested. 
Witnesses at the island youth retreat described how Breivik lured them close by saying he was a police officer before opening fire. People hid and fled into the water to escape the rampage; some played dead. 
Divers continued to comb the lake waters around the island where some 600 young people were attending a Labor Party summer retreat when it came under attack, amid fears people may have drowned while trying to swim to safety. 
Police said the bomb used in the Oslo blast was a mixture of fertilizer and fuel used to blow up a federal building in <a href="/topics/Oklahoma">Oklahoma</a> city in 1995. A farm supply store said Saturday they had alerted police that Breivik bought six metric tons of fertilizer, which can be used in homemade bombs.

wonorway25

Lawyer: Norway suspect wanted anti-Muslim crusade

Norway Shooter

The 32-year-old suspected of gunning down scores of young people at a summer camp and setting off a bomb in downtown <a href="/topics/Oslo">Oslo</a> that killed at least seven is a mystery to investigators: a right-winger with anti-Muslim views but no known links to hardcore extremists. 
"He just came out of nowhere," a police official told The Associated Press. 
Seven people were killed in the bombing at the prime minister's office and at least 85 were slain in the shooting spree on the island, police said Saturday. The warned the death toll could rise further as many people remained missing. 
Public broadcaster NRK and several other Norwegian media identified the suspected attacker as Anders Behring Breivik, a blond and blue-eyed Norwegian who expressed right-wing and anti-Muslim views on the Internet. Police have the suspect in custody but have not confirmed his identity. 
Norwegian news agency NTB said Breivik legally owned several firearms and belonged to a gun club. He ran an agricultural firm growing vegetables, an enterprise that could have helped him secure large amounts of fertilizer, a potential ingredient in bombs. 
But he didn't belong to any known factions in Norway's small and splintered extreme right movement, and had no criminal record except for some minor offenses, the police official told AP. 
"He hasn't been on our radar, which he would have been if was active in the neo-Nazi groups in Norway," he said. "But he still could be inspired by their ideology." 
He spoke on condition of anonymity because those details had not been officially released by police. He declined to name the suspect. 
Neo-Nazi groups carried out a series of murders and robberies in Scandinavia in the 1990s but have since kept a low profile. 
"They have a lack of leadership. We have pretty much control of those groups," the police official said. 
Breivik's registered address is at a four-story apartment building in western <a href="/topics/Oslo">Oslo</a>. A police car was parked outside the brick building early Saturday, with officers protecting the entrance. 
National police chief Sveinung Sponheim told public broadcaster NRK that the gunman's Internet postings "suggest that he has some political traits directed toward the right, and anti-Muslim views, but whether that was a motivation for the actual act remains to be seen." 
He regularly posted on a Norwegian right-wing site called Document.no in 2009 and 2010, the editor of the site Hans Rustad said. 
"He writes mostly about what Americans call the cultural war; focused on immigration, demography, identity, and politics in the broader sense," Rustad wrote on the site on Saturday. 
"His main enemy is not Muslims, but multiculturalists and what he calls cultural marxists." 
A <a href="/topics/Facebook">Facebook</a> page under Breivik's name was taken down late Friday. A Twitter account under his name had only one Tweet, on July 17, loosely citing English philosopher John Stuart Mill: "One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who have only interests." 
Police were interrogating the man, first at the scene of the shooting, and later at a police station in Oslo. 
"It's strange that he didn't kill himself, like the guys that have carried out school shootings," the police official told AP. "It's a good thing that he didn't because then we might get some answers pointing out his motivation." 
He said there did not appear to be any links to international terrorist networks. The attack "is probably more Norway's Oklahoma City than it is Norway's World Trade Center," he said referring to the 1995 attack on a federal building in Oklahoma City by domestic terrorists. 
Investigators said the Norwegian carried out both attacks — the blast at the prime minister's office in Oslo and the shooting spree at the left-wing <a href="/topics/Labor_Party">Labor Party</a>'s youth camp — but didn't rule out that others were involved. 
Authorities were questioning witnesses about reports of a second gunman, but the police official said it wouldn't be impossible for one man to carry out the attacks on his own. 
"He's obviously cold as ice. But to get close to the government is easy. The streets are open in that area," he said.

WOoslo23.web

Norway cops: Gunman wasn't 'on our radar'

119625641

When <a href="/topics/Kenneth_Johnson">Kenneth Johnson</a> first heard the news on the radio about a bomb blast and shooting spree in <a href="/topics/Norway">Norway</a>, he began furiously emailing family members.
<a href="/topics/Kenneth_Johnson">Johnson</a>, 67, of Patchogue, learned Saturday that his extended family, scattered around Norway, was safe. But his relief turned to sadness when details of the massacre emerged.
"We're all devastated over what's taken place and extremely upset over the loss of life," the retiree said. "To have this happen by one of our own is even more shocking."
Other local Norwegian Americans echoed Johnson's sentiments, stunned by the apparent case of homegrown terrorism. The bombing in central <a href="/topics/Oslo%2C_Norway">Oslo</a> and rampage at a nearby island youth camp left scores dead.
Norway, known for its low crime rate, good quality of life and open democracy, has seldom been ravaged by political unrest, said Magnus-Andreas Aase, 27, of <a href="/topics/Williamsburg%2C_Brooklyn">Williamsburg, Brooklyn</a>, a native Norwegian.
"It has been a calm corner of the world. As many people say, this took the innocence of the country," he said. 
Aase sought comfort Saturday at a gathering inside Norwegian Seamen's Church in Manhattan. Outside, two Norwegian flags flew at half-staff; a makeshift memorial of candles and flowers was by the door.
"You realize that terrorism comes in all shapes and forms, and all types of ideologies," said Boomer <a href="/topics/Boomer_Esiason">Esiason</a>, sports commentator and former <a href="/topics/New_York_Jets">Jets</a> quarterback. Esiason, of Manhasset, is of Norwegian decent and was grand marshal in last year's Norwegian parade in <a href="/topics/Bay_Ridge%2C_Brooklyn">Bay Ridge, Brooklyn</a>.
"It's a small country and a very tight-knit community that you can't help but feel such anguish," he said. "It's also a painful reminder of some of the struggles we've had in this country, too." With Emily Ngo

Suffolk

LINORW24

Local Norwegians stunned by deadly attacks

Police arrived at an island massacre about an hour and a half after a gunman first opened fire, slowed because they didn’t have quick access to a helicopter and then couldn’t find a boat to make their way to the scene just several hundred yards (meters) offshore. The assailant surrendered when police finally reached him, but 82 people died before that. 
Survivors of the shooting spree have described hiding and fleeing into the water to escape the gunman, but a police briefing Saturday detailed for the first time how long the terror lasted — and how long victims waited for help. 
The shooting came on the heels of what police told The Associated Press was an “<a href="/topics/Oklahoma">Oklahoma</a> city-type” bombing in <a href="/topics/Oslo%2C_Norway">Oslo</a>’s downtown: It targeted a government building, was allegedly perpetrated by a homegrown assailant and used the same mix of fertilizer and fuel that blew up a federal building in the U.S. in 1995. 
In all, at least 92 people were killed in the twin attacks that police are blaming on the same suspect, 32-year-old Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik. 
“He has confessed to the factual circumstances,” Breivik’s defense lawyer, Geir Lippestad, told public broadcaster NRK. 
Lippestad said his client had also made some comments about his motives. 
“He’s said some things about that but I don’t want to talk about it now,” the lawyer told NRK. 
Norwegian news agency NTB said the suspect wrote a 1,500-page manifesto before the attack in which he attacked multiculturalism and Muslim immigration. The manifesto also described how to acquire explosives and contained pictures of Breivik, NTB said. <a href="/topics/Oslo%2C_Norway">Oslo</a> police declined to comment on the report. 
A SWAT team was dispatched to the island more than 50 minutes after people vacationing at a campground said they heard shooting across the lake, according to Police Chief Sveinung Sponheim. The drive to the lake took about 20 minutes, and once there, the team took another 20 minutes to find a boat. 
Footage filmed from a helicopter that showed the gunman firing into the water added to the impression that police were slow to the scene. They chose to drive, Sponheim said, because their helicopter wasn’t on standby. 
“There were problems with transport to Utoya,” where the youth-wing of Norway’s left-leaning <a href="/topics/Labor_Party">Labor Party</a> was holding a retreat, Sponheim said. “It was difficult to get a hold of boats.” At least 85 people were killed on the island, but police said four or five people were still missing. 
Divers have been searching the surrounding waters, and Sponheim said the missing may have drowned. Police earlier said there was still an unexploded device on the island, but it later turned out to be fake. 
The attack followed the explosion of a bomb packed into a panel truck outside the building that houses the prime minister’s office in Oslo, according to a police official “It was some kind of <a href="/topics/Oklahoma_City%2C_OK">Oklahoma City</a>-type bomb,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because police hadn’t released the information. 
Seven people were killed, and police said there are still body parts in the building. The Oslo University hospital said it has so far received 11 wounded from the bombing and 19 people from the camp shooting. 
Police have charged Breivik under Norway’s terror law. He will be arraigned on Monday when a court decides whether police can continue to hold him as the investigation continues. 
Authorities have not given a motive for the attacks, but both were in areas connected to the <a href="/topics/Labor_Party">Labor Party</a>, which leads a coalition government. 
Even police confessed to not knowing much about the suspect, but details trickled out about him all day: He had ties to a right-leaning political party, he posted on Christian fundamentalist websites, and he rented a farm where police found 9,000-11,000 pounds (4,000-5,000 kilograms) of fertilizer. 
Police said the suspect is talking to them and has admitted to firing weapons on the island. It was not clear if he had confessed to anything else he is accused of. 
“He has had a dialogue with the police the whole time, but he’s a very demanding suspect,” Sponheim said. 
Earlier in the day, a farm supply store said they had alerted police that he bought six metric tons of fertilizer, which can be used in homemade bombs. That’s at least one metric ton more than was found at the farm, according to police. 
Police and soldiers were searching for evidence and potential bombs at the farm south of Oslo on Saturday. Havard Nordhagen Olsen, a neighbor, told The Associated Press that Breivik moved in about one moth ago, just next to his house and said he seemed like “a regular guy.” Olsen said he recognized his neighbor in the newspapers this morning and said he was in shock. 
Meanwhile, Mazyar Keshvari, a spokesman for Norway’s Progress Party — which is conservative but within the political mainstream — said that the suspect was a paying member of the party’s youth wing from 1999 to 2004. 
Prime Minister <a href="/topics/Jens_Stoltenberg">Jens Stoltenberg</a> called the tragedy peacetime Norway’s deadliest day. 
“This is beyond comprehension. It’s a nightmare. It’s a nightmare for those who have been killed, for their mothers and fathers, family and friends,” Stoltenberg told reporters Saturday. 
Gun violence is rare in Norway, where the average policeman patrolling in the streets doesn’t carry a firearm. Reports that the assailant was motivated by political ideology were shocking to many Norwegians, who pride themselves on the openness of their society. Indeed, Norway is almost synonymous with the kind of free expression being exercised by the youth at the political retreat. 
<a href="/topics/King_Harald_V">King Harald V</a>, Norway’s figurehead monarch, vowed Saturday that those values would remain unchanged. 
“I remain convinced that the belief in freedom is stronger than fear. I remain convinced in the belief of an open Norwegian democracy and society. I remain convinced in the belief in our ability to live freely and safely in our own country,” said the king. 
The monarch, his wife and the prime minister led the nation in mourning, visiting grieving relatives of the scores of youth gunned down. Buildings around the capital lowered their flags to half-staff. People streamed to Oslo Cathedral to light candles and lay flowers; outside, mourners began building a makeshift altar from dug-up cobblestones. The Army patrolled the streets of the capital, a highly unusual sight for this normally placid country. 
The city center was a sea of roadblocks Saturday, with groups of people peering over the barricades wherever they sprang up, as the shell-shocked Nordic nation was gripped by reports that the gunman may not have acted alone. Police have not confirmed a second assailant but said they are investigating witness reports. 
The queen and the prime minister hugged when they arrived at the hotel where families are waiting to identify the bodies. Both king and queen shook hands with mourners, while the prime minister, his voice trembling, told reporters of the harrowing stories survivors had recounted to him. 
On the island of Utoya, panicked teens attending a Labour Party youth wing summer camp plunged into the water or played dead to avoid the assailant in the assault. A picture sent out on Twitter showed a blurry figure in dark clothing pointing a gun into the water, with bodies all around him. 
The carnage hours earlier in Oslo, when a bomb rocked the city where the <a href="/topics/Nobel_Peace_Prize">Nobel Peace Prize</a> is awarded, left a square covered in twisted metal, shattered glass and documents expelled from surrounding buildings. 
The dust-clogged scene after the blast reminded one visitor from New York of Sept. 11. 
A 15-year-old camper named Elise who was on Utoya said she heard gunshots, but then saw a police officer and thought she was safe. Then he started shooting people right before her eyes. 
Elise, whose father didn’t want her to disclose her last name, said she hid behind the same rock that the killer was standing on. “I could hear his breathing from the top of the rock,” she said. 
She said it was impossible to say how many minutes passed while she was waiting for him to stop. 
At a hotel in the village of Sundvollen, where survivors of the shooting were taken, 21-year-old Dana Berzingi wore pants stained with blood. He said the fake police officer ordered people to come closer, then pulled weapons and ammunition from a bag and started shooting. 
Several victims “had pretended they were dead to survive,” Berzingi said. But after shooting the victims with one gun, the gunman shot them again in the head with a shotgun, he said. 
Earlier, the police official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the attack “is probably more Norway’s <a href="/topics/Oklahoma_City%2C_OK">Oklahoma City</a> than it is Norway’s World Trade Center.” Domestic terrorists carried out the 1995 attack, while foreign terrorists were responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. 
The United States, <a href="/topics/European_Union">European Union</a>, <a href="/topics/NATO">NATO</a> and the U.K., all quickly condemned the bombing, which <a href="/topics/United_Kingdom">Britain</a>’s Foreign Secretary <a href="/topics/William_Hague">William Hague</a> called “horrific” and <a href="/topics/NATO">NATO</a> Secretary-General <a href="/topics/Anders_Fogh_Rasmussen">Anders Fogh Rasmussen</a> deemed a “heinous act.” “It’s a reminder that the entire international community has a stake in preventing this kind of terror from occurring,” <a href="/topics/Barack_Obama">President Barack Obama</a> said. 
Obama extended his condolences to Norway’s people and offered U.S. assistance with the investigation. He said he remembered how warmly Norwegians treated him in Oslo when he accepted the <a href="/topics/Nobel_Peace_Prize">Nobel Peace Prize</a> in 2009. 
<a href="/topics/United_Kingdom">Britain</a>’s <a href="/topics/Queen_Elizabeth_II">Queen Elizabeth II</a> wrote to Norway’s King Harald to offer her condolences and express her shock and sadness at the shooting attacks in his country. 
A U.S. counterterrorism official said the United States knew of no links to terrorist groups and early indications were the attack was domestic. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was being handled by Norway.

norway1.5hours23

Norway police arrive 90 minutes after firing began

The Norwegian man suspected in a bombing and shooting spree that killed at least 92 people bought six tons of fertilizer before the massacre, the supplier said Saturday as police investigated witness accounts of a second shooter. 
Norway's royal family and prime minister led the nation in mourning, visiting grieving relatives of the scores of youth gunned down at an island retreat, as the shell-shocked Nordic nation was gripped by reports that the gunman may not have acted alone. 
The shooting spree began just hours after a massive explosion that ripped through an <a href="/topics/Oslo">Oslo</a> high-rise building housing the prime minister's office. At least 92 people have been killed, but police say more are missing. 
The queen and the prime minister hugged when they arrived at the hotel where families are waiting to identify the bodies. Both king and queen shook hands with mourners, while the prime minister, his voice trembling, told reporters of the harrowing stories survivors had recounted to him. 
A man who said he was carrying a knife was detained by police officers outside the hotel. He told reporters as he was led away that he was carrying the weapon because he didn't feel safe. 
On the island of Utoya, panicked teens attending a Labour Party youth wing summer camp plunged into the water or played dead to avoid the assailant in the assault that may have lasted 30 minutes before a SWAT team arrived, police said. A picture sent out on Twitter showed a blurry figure in dark clothing pointing a gun into the water, with bodies all around him. 
Buildings around the capital lowered their flags to half-staff on Saturday. People streamed to <a href="/topics/Oslo">Oslo</a> Cathedral to light candles and lay flowers; outside, mourners began building a makeshift altar from dug-up cobblestones. The Army patrolled the streets of the capital, a highly unusual sight for this normally placid country. 
"This is beyond comprehension. It's a nightmare. It's a nightmare for those who have been killed, for their mothers and fathers, family and friends," Stoltenberg told reporters earlier Saturday.

norwayfert23

Norway bomb suspect bought 6 tons of fertilizer

The NYPD ratcheted up security Friday after the deadly attacks in Norway.
Extra police were put on duty around Norway's mission and consulate in Manhattan, as well as those of Denmark, <a href="/topics/Finland">Finland</a> and Sweden, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said.
Police critical response vehicles were also deployed around the city, a standard tactic in times of elevated alert, Browne said. Critical response vehicles are roving motorized units deployed near major transportation hubs, hotels and key areas as deemed necessary by police.
"The Police Department continues to monitor events in Norway closely for further details and possible motives behind the attacks, but we have no information at this time indicating a specific threat against New York City," Browne said.

New York

NYBOMB23

NYPD responds at home to Norway attacks

Norway - cropped

Complete coverage: Norway massacre

Newsday

Homepage Trending

Halloween events on LI

2026 LI Voters Guide

Wallet Watch

Working Moms

Most Popular

Latest videos

Nation/world video slot

Salvadorans on Long Island are preparing for the end of their Temporary Protected Status. The federal humanitarian program that allows immigrants to legally live and work in the United States, expires on Wednesday. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn reports.

'I never thought this would happen to them'

Aditi Patel of Old Westbury says her mother and mother-in-law, as well as a family friend, are among at least 90 Americans missing after the floods in Nepal and Tibet earlier this week, NewsdayTV's Doug Geed reports.

'It's been the most devastating 48 hours, I think, of my life'

The latest developments in the war with Iran include the naming of Ayotollah Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his father as the country's late supreme leader and the continued rise of gas prices.

Iran developments: Gas prices soar as supreme leader named

Federal officers shot another person in Minneapolis amid an immigration crackdown, Minneapolis Gov. Tim Walz said.

The man was identified as Alex Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse

Sign up for the Breaking News newsletter

Nation/world Newsletter Widget

Nation/World Article Bottom Module

Nation/World Video Playlist

2026 has begun in other parts of the world. See celebrations from Hong Kong, Toyko, Bangkok and more locations.

Celebrations mark 2026 worldwide

State Republicans are fighting to scrap the even-year election law. Newsday columnist Joye Brown reports.

'We knew we had to take it to the federal option'

The House and Senate voted in favor of a bill to force the Justice Department to publicly release its files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

House and Senate vote to release Epstein files

The Justice Department says President Donald Trump has pardoned dozens of key figures allegedly involved in the plan to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Rudy Giuliani and others pardoned by Trump

Dick Cheney was one of the most powerful and polarizing vice presidents in U.S. history.

A two-term vice president under George W. Bush

On Monday, Hurricane Melissa intensified to Category 5 strength as it neared Jamaica, where forecasters said it would unleash catastrophic flooding, multiple landslides and extensive infrastructure damage.

Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in Jamaica

On Tuesday, an immigration enforcement sweep targeting vendors on Manhattan's Canal Street turned chaotic when angry protestors surrounded federal agents and attempted to block them from driving off.

Angry crowds confront federal agents in Canal Street immigration sweep

The FBI is offering a $100,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk on a Utah university campus. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa reports.

$100,000 reward for information

Donald Trump said the U.S. military struck three sites in Iran, directly joining Israel's effort to decapitate the country's nuclear program in a risky gambit to weaken a long-time foe.

Trump says Iran's key nuclear sites 'completely and fully obliterated' by strikes

Tensions in Los Angeles escalated over the weekend as thousands of protesters took to the streets in response to President Donald Trump's deployment of the National Guard.

Police and protesters clash outside federal detention center in LA after ICE raids

Americans could pay more for fresh vegetables and electronics as imports from Canada and Mexico will be taxed at 25% and Chinese imports at 20%. 

Trump tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China take effect

The last 10 minutes of the nearly 45-minute meeting devolved into a tense back and forth between President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who had urged skepticism about Russia's commitment to diplomacy, citing Moscow's years of broken commitments on the global stage.

Watch: Trump, Zelenskyy and Vance in Oval Office blowup

NEWSDAY TV SHORTS

Vertical videos

Make the jump to light speed on this week's LI Works. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa meets with a member of The 501st Legion, Empire City Garrison.

LI Works: Explore the dark side of the Force with Ken

NewsdayTV's Macy Egeland talks to Andrea McCade, founder of The Social Mom Club LI, about how new moms can connect with others.

Working Moms: Making mom friends

NewsdayTV's Doug Geed goes inside Critterville Farm Sanctuary to meet the rescued animals finding a second chance and the local passion that keeps it all going.

Out East: Critterville in Riverhead

Video of two Suffolk police officers joining a group of teens playing soccer goes viral. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn has more.

Chance encounter turns into viral video

NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa visits Co-Owner, Dough & Co. Pizza to try the Apple Bay Pizza, which is exclusive to their Oyster Bay location.

Trendy Bites: An apple pie ... pizza?

Tess Ferguson breaks down the Week 6 results in Newsday's high school fantasy football league.

Newsday's high school fantasy football Week 6 results

High school athletes striving to play sports in college might want to look at niche sports that give them a better chance. NewsdayTV's Jared Valluzzi reports.

Niche sports might get you a leg up to play at college level

NewsdayTV's Carissa Kellman explores the historic and festive charm of Sleepy Hollow during a fall day trip.

A hauntingly good time in Sleepy Hollow

According to Babylon town tax documents, the proposed increase will cost the average household about $115 a year. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn reports.

Proposed property tax hike in Babylon

NewsdayTV's Andi Berlin tried some new martini combinations at Beacon in Long Beach.

Design your own martini at this Long Beach speakeasy

<a href="https://www.newsday.com/video/newsdaytv-top-stories">Get more on these and other NewsdayTV stories</a>

Newsday TV

NewsdayTV Top Item

South Asians concerned about online hate ... Rape, kidnapping charges dropped against man who died in custody ... Ex-teacher gets 3 years in prison ... Working Moms: Finding friends

South Asians concerned about online hate ... Ex-teacher gets 3 years in prison ... Working Moms: Finding friends

Highest-paid LI nonprofit employees ... South Asians concerned about online hate ... Working Moms: Finding friends ... Out East: Seven Ponds Orchard

Highest-paid LI nonprofit employees ... South Asians concerned about online hate ... Sixers spoil Knicks' banner night

App Nativo Ad Unit Slot

Nation/World - megaslot

Read the latest national and world news, including stories from Newsday's reporters in Washington, D.C.

Most Popular

Latest videos

Stay logged in.