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(Clockwise from top left) Hanne Kristine Fridtun, Tore Eikeland, Hanne Lovile and Rafal Yasin
5:24PM BST 26 Jul 2011
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• Anders Breivik is on suicide watch, Norwegian police say
• Killer 'took drugs before attack to make him strong'
• Breivik lawyer says client 'insane' and 'believes he is in a
• Killer 'took drugs before attack to make him strong'
• Breivik lawyer says client 'insane' and 'believes he is in a
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17.25 Oslo florists study that they all sold out of flowers yesterday, as 100,000 or more people bought them for the assemblage in the port unalterable night.
17.21 Photos of the childlike Anders Breivik possess been surfacing. Here's one of him when he was a teenager:
(Photo: ALLOVER NORWAY/REX FEATURES)And another of him as a child:
17.18 Stephen Lennon, the head of the far-Right English Defence League, has said that while he does not condone Breivik's rampage, "people have to listen" to the fact that "so many people are scared":
Group should lie at what happened in Oslo and interpret that there is growing ira in Aggregation. You check group's rights, you restrain group's voices and fill will rightful uphold to go subsurface - but that doesn't piss the problem go gone.
17.12 Katharine Birbalsingh, our blogger and a former encyclopaedic school educator, writes that Anders Breivik's ascendant has a lot to serve for:
Anders Breivik is not the exclusive one to goldbrick obligation. Jens Breivik says he does not "finger equal his father". Oh truly? I wonderment whether he change similar Anders' theologian when he abandoned both him and his care to espouse another oriental? I ruminate whether he cerebration nearly his son's serenity of nous when he intellection it individual to act to Town and then put his son through the ordeal of a keeping endeavor where he and his new mate fought to suffer him from his parent and half-sister (his parent had a daughter when she mated his begetter) and his state, in request to endeavor to resuscitate law are emotional the names of whatever of the barren on their website now (6pm Port measure). Still, the website (www.politi.no) seems to possess crashed, possibly due to the intensity of touch.
16.57 As symptomless as Altaic civilisation, Breivik's manifesto hailed the Soldier Faith leader defecation Hindutva, according to The Religion paper:
Bharat figures in a extraordinary 102 pages of the sprawly 1,518-page declaration. Breivik's pronunciamento says his Magistrate Knights "resource the Sanatana Dharma movements and Soldier nationalists in plain." In cut 3.158 of the declaration, he explains that Religion nationalists "are painfulness from the said persecution by the Amerindian ethnic Marxists as their Continent cousins."
Thanks to Neoliberal Band's Sunny Hundal on Chirp for pointing that out.
16.51 Something I missed early in the urge: according to Geir Lippestad, Anders Behring Breivik is asleep of the scrap of his attacks, and asked the attorney how galore group he killed:
He asked me if was if I was shocked and if I could vindicate to him what happened. He didn't hump if he had succeeded with his idea.
16.46 Breivik old online war games as "training", according to his declaration:
I upright bought Late Conflict 2, the job. It is belike the top militaristic simulator out there and it's one of the hottest. I see MW2 much as part of my training-simulation than anything added.
16.39 David Mac Dougall of AP reports that Anders Behring Breivik may bang had a endorsement Twitter relationship - @S_Jorsalfare, ostensibly a substance Sigmund Jolsefare, the 12th-century Norse reverend whose phratry he seemingly utilized as an name in onine forums.
His gear, set up upright life before the attacks, contained only one tweet, which misquoted John Stuart Compaction: "One organism with a belief is equalized to the make of 100,000 who acquire exclusive interests."
16.23 The Smoothen chemist from whom Anders Behring Breivik bought fae components says that the Scandinavian appeared to be a mean businessman. Lukasz Mikus told AP:
Anders was exclusive my client but because of that I make a big disarray. He was an utterly practice consumer with average questions. There was naught rummy in his emails.
16.12 Oslo Cathedral surrounded by a sea of flowers, via Markus Karlsson of France24:
16.00 Tove Oevermo, Anders Behring Breivik's stepmother, says that the killer was an apparently normal young man. She told AP:
He was just an ordinary Norwegian, a well-behaved boy. You can't put all of this together really. I saw no sign of him being a person like he must have been. It's really such a shock. He felt like a happy, normal child. We had a very good connection, and we liked being together, even when he was a small child. I got the impression he really liked me.15.52 Police reiterate that they can't rule out Breivik's claim that there are two other cells, but the main theory is still that he acted alone.
15.42 The Norwegian Labour Party’s general secretary, Raymond Johansen, says Utoya will be used again for summer camps:
There will be a time for the close members of the families who lost loved ones to return to the island where they can mourn privately. This will not be a public ceremony but will help them with the grieving process. At a later date there will also be a memorial on the island in memory of those whose lives were taken so cruellyThe island should remain a venue for our summer camps as it is a symbol for the people – and what Breivik did to the island was an assault on democracy and freedom of expression. To close the island would make him – and not us – the victor.
People mourn at a memorial in front of Utoya island. (Photo: REUTERS)15.36 The English language press conference has begun. The police are asked about the other "cells" in his "organisation":
He mentioned them in his manifesto and he talked about them in his hearing. Naturally we will investigate them, but we cannot talk about them specifically now.Could they have moved faster, he is asked. He says local police requested assistance from the Oslo elite force eight minutes after first call. It was an hour's drive to Utoya, and that the police seized Breivik within two minutes of arriving on the island: "We always want to do better, but it is difficult to see how we could do better in this case".
He says that Breivik's thoughts are "very difficult to understand", so the fact that Breivik expected the police to apprehend him more quickly is not of concern to them.
15.29 Searchlight, the anti-fascist magazine, says that Breivik called theEnglish Defence League a "blessing", wished to attend its rallies, and may have posted on its websites. He was also apparently in touch with the Norwegian equivalent, the NDL, and used the pseudonym Sigurd Jorsalfare, after the 12th century King of Norway who led one of the Crusades. The posts which are believed to be him read:
Hello. To you all good English men and women, just wanted to say that you're a blessing to all in Europe, in these dark times all of Europe are looking to you in surch of inspiration, courage and even hope that we might turn this evil trend with islamisation all across our continent. Well, just wanted to say keep up the good work it's good to see others that care about their country and heritage.i've seen with my own eyes what has happened to england, i was in bradford some years ago, me and a friend walked down to the football stadium of bradford, real 'nice' neighborhood, same thing in the suburbs of london. well thinking about taking a little trip over the sea and join you in a demo. would be nice with a norwegian flag alongside with union jack or the english flag, that is if a norwegian would be welcome offcourse?
In his manifesto, Breivik said he used the pseudonym, writing: "Everyone is using code names; mine is Sigurd (the Crusader)."
15.26 Here's Geir Lippestad earlier saying that his client is most likely insane:
15.19 Is Breivik on suicide watch? And were the photos of him taken by professional photographers?
On the first question, in cases of this nature, I can confirm we have him on suicide watch. I don't want to get into the second matter.15.08 Now he's answering questions in Norwegian. Here are a few:
• How many people are still missing?
Well, we have told you how we want to release names of the victims. We will also notify you about missing people and wounded people in the same manner. We want to make sure we have the quality assurance in place when it comes to releasing numbers here.• There have been reports that there were two more buildings that had bombs.
There were many buildings checked out by the police, and we haven't found any more explosives. But we can't answer you specifically on many of the questions. When the suspect is interrogated next time, you will get more information. We are currently investigating what he said during previous investigations.• You're saying that you are going to release names this evening? Every day for how long?
How many we release depends on how many families we are able to notify today.• The defence attorney had a press conference. Any comments?
We are at the moment looking at setting up a medical team to examine the suspect's sanity.
15.00 The police spokesman is giving a statement. I've taken down the best transcript I could get of the BBC's translation, but apparently they will be repeating the press conference in English shortly, so we may learn more.
• On identifying victims:
The work on identifying the victims is going on, and we have received some confirmed names. We have a process of notifying the families first before we release the names to you. There's an ongoing process here and the victims are being identified by their local police district. The police understands that you are impatient when it comes to getting the names of the victims, but we have tio fuirst and foremost consider the families.At 6pm Norwegian time, we will release the first names of the victims, on the website www.politi.no. We will publish the name, age and address of the victims. Every day, from now on, until we have complete list, we will send out a release at 6pm on our website, together with a press release.
• On the ongoing search for bodies and on the situation in Utoya and Oslo:
We have a couple of issues that we'd like to talk to you about. First, Utoya. It's a very demanding investigative operation here. We have the most advanced technology at hand, and nothing will be left undone in this case. We will do everything we can to find all missing people. We are going through the area and gradually opening up the area as we finish the search. The main site will remain closed for at least two weeks.In Oslo, the unarmed police will be present, the armed police have been withdrawn. We will do our best to show our presence to make sure the city centre is safe. But people should not be worried about going about their daily business. If anything chagnes we will notify you straight away. We would like people to return to normal and come back to the city centre; we saw a good example of that yesterday with the flower rally, with over 100,000 people yesterday.
• On the criticism over police helicopters:
Second, the police helicopters. This is an issue which has been taken out of context and blown out of all proportion. There is one helicopter which is dependent on weather conditions. I have talked to you about the capacity and we did use this one helicopter as part of the search. But our police helicopter does not have any capacity beyond that. It is normally stationed at Gardermoen airport. The Oslo police and the government is looking into how we can improve this capacity, and there will be a hearing in the autumn. WE don't want to take part in this debate any further.• On criticism of the police:
Finally I'd like to say, generally speaking, this case is very demanding, and a big burden for all of us. Yesterday we said thank you to the public and to all those who were directly involved as victims. We said a big thank you to them. The dignity they showed during yesterday's rally where we had over 100,000 people present was wonderful. We had a number of vigils, all carried out with much dignity. We don't mind being criticised, but behind our uniforms is the average Norwegian citizen with feelings. We can take criticism but we are human beings underneath our uniforms.14.51 The police are to give a press conference shortly in Oslo.
14.45 The Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin, has moved to distance himself from Anders Behring Breivik after Breivik praised him in his manifesto. A spokesman for Putin said Breivik "was the devil incarnate" and went on:
He is absolutely insane and, no matter what he wrote or said, these are the ravings of a lunatic.Breivik had called Putin "a fair and resolute leader worthy of respect", adding: "I'm unsure at this point whether he has the potential to be our best friend or our worst enemy," noting that Putin would have no choice but "to openly condemn us at this point."
14.25 Norway is to be invited to join European Union talks on the threat from the far Right, according to Michele Cercone, a spokesman for the EU. Interior ministers from EU nations are to meet in September, and Norway - a non-EU nation - has been invited to attend, while radicalisation and xenophobia have been added to the agenda:
The idea is to invite Norwegian authorities for possible follow-up ... so the ministers can share information on radicalisation, xenophobia. Compromise [on matters like restriction of sales of dangerous chemicals] is easier to reach after shocking events such as those in Norway14.05 Speaking to Reuters, a Norwegian forensic psychiatrist, Yngve Ystad, has cast doubt on the idea that Anders Behring Breivik will be able to plead insanity:
In Norway you are not accountable for crime and getting sentenced to jail if you display a typical psychosis with hallucinations, delusional ideas or disturbances and this has been the case for a while.I think it is very risky for me to make guesses in this case ... but I think it is natural to expect that this man will be found to have been not psychotic and not unconscious at the moment of the crime.
He had planned the crime and he was not in that way disturbed by psychotic or delusional ideas because this has been going on for a very long time and, according to the press, he has not been disturbed or suffered severe disturbances.
13.53 A Dutch blogger says that Google Translate - the web service I've used several times in this blog to translate pages - might have been hacked, to make Breivik's name appear as "refurbishment" or "renovation" in other European languages. Dirk Poot says that "all these translations give a very positive connotation to the name Breivik; in the light of his writings, even a darkly symbolic one". He gives the following examples:
• Norwegian to German: breivik <> Sanierung
• Norwegian to Dutch: breivik <> renovatie
• Norwegian to English: breivik <> refurbishment
• Norwegian to French: breivik <> rénovation
• Norwegian to Spanish: breivik <> remodelación
• Norwegian to Dutch: breivik <> renovatie
• Norwegian to English: breivik <> refurbishment
• Norwegian to French: breivik <> rénovation
• Norwegian to Spanish: breivik <> remodelación
On other translation services, including Bing, the word Breivik has no translation, and the Norwegian speaker in our office, Thore Haugstad, says that it is not a word he is aware of, although "brei" means "wide". I've asked our tech desk for more information; they are extremely dubious that the Google Translate system can be hacked in this way, but have approached Google for a response. If anyone has any more information, do contact me at twitter.com/tomchivers or in the comments below.
13.46 Ketil B Stensrud tweets that a sonar vessel trawling the waters around Utoya island has found 10 "points" on the sea bottom, according to Norway's TV2. Stensrud continues: "Whether these 'points' are in fact bodies remains to be seen, but the search has at least been intensifying over the last hours."
13.41 And Raf Sanchez has filed a piece on Breivik's expectation that he would be killed before he reached Utoya island:
Mr Lippestad said: "He thought that he would be killed after the bombing, during the action on the island and he also thought he would be killed at trial. He believes that someone will kill him."During interviews Breivik referred to "two cells in Norway, but several cells abroad" and said he thought more attacks would follow.
"He believes the other cells will continue the war. He looks upon himself as a warrior, and takes some kind of pride in starting this war," the lawyer said.
13.35 Gordon Rayner, our chief reporter, writes that Anders Breivik took drugs to make himself 'strong' before shooting:
He said his client had taken drugs before going on the rampage “to be strong, efficient and awake” and was “sorry that he had to do this but it was necessary because he is in a war”.Asked to describe Breivik, Mr Lippestad said he is “a very cold person” but “I can’t describe him because he is not like anyone else”.
13.15 Breivik may oppose the idea of pleading insanity, Lippestad goes on, because he thinks he is the "only one who understands the truth".
13.05 Mr Lippestad also says that his client "seems to favour dictatorship, not democracy".
13.00 Clarification: I wrote earlier that Mr Lippestad said that Breivik will take the insanity defence. In fact, Mr Lippestad said that it is too early to say whether he will do so, but says that his client will take psychological tests or, if he won't take his advice, he can find a new lawyer. Mr Lippestad himself believes his client to be insane but says that it is a medical question.
12.48 Is Anders Behring Breivik insane? Dan Gardner, a columnist for the Ottawa Citizen and the author of Future Babble and Risk, says thateveryone has rushed to say so, because we hope only insane people could behave like this:
But notice that in the torrent of tweets and comments about the atrocity, this common theme is seldom interrogated. What do we mean when we say Breivik is insane?He’ll surely be subjected to an intense psychological evaluation, and this may well reveal mental disorder, but to date there is little to suggest Breivik is anything but perfectly lucid. His own lawyer says he is aware that what he did is “atrocious” but he felt it was “necessary” to attack a ruling party dedicated to multiculturalism and launch a Christian crusade against the Islamic jihad that supposedly threatens Europe. Those are the words of a fanatic, not a madman.
12.40 Bruno Waterfield, one of our foreign correspondents, writes thata Dutchman who had played online computer games with Breivik had received emails containing photos of the Norwegian posing with guns. Joeren Rink told De Telegraaf:
We talked about politics on occasion and I thought he was pretty radical. When he heard I had voted for Geert Wilders – he sent me a link. I only opened it this weekend and looked at it properly. Shocking. It contained loads of pages with propaganda, films and photos, including him, with guns.12.36 Here's the full quote from Lippestad about Breivik expecting to die:
He thought he'd be killed after the bombing, after the action on the island, and he also thought he'd be killed at trial.12.34 Further to Breivik's claim that there are other "cells" in his "organisation", a source close to the investigation has told Reuters:
We feel that the accused has fairly low credibility when it comes to this claim but none of us dare to be completely dismissive about it either.12.23 Ed West, one of our bloggers, writes that the case of Anders Breivik shows how the internet pushes political views in extreme directions:
In his book Going to Extremes, Cass Sunstein noted that people’s peer groups could shift their political views in extreme directions, so that “social networks can operate as polarisation machines because they help to confirm and thus amplify people’s antecedent views”. In the age of the internet, where people can seek out like-minded souls across the world, this effect is amplified, the echo chamber impact of self-selecting peer groups driving some people to ever more extreme views.12.15 That's that from Lippestad, who seemed very uncomfortable. We'll have some reaction to it shortly. First, here is a poignant picture gallery of the dead and the missing from Friday's attacks:
12.12 Does he expect another attack? "He believes this is the start of a war that will go on for 60 years. But his mind is very... I won't go on. He believes the other cells will continue the war. He looks upon himself as a warrior, and takes some kind of pride in starting this war."
12.11 Did he surrender to police? Why? "I can confirm that he surrendered, but I don't know yet why." Has he had any sort of injury from being manhandled by police? "No, no injury."
12.10 The other mooted cells are part of the "so-called Knights Templar movement". How did he trigger the bomb? "It's too complicated for me to answer."
12.09 Why did he go to Britain? "It's too early in the case, I don't know." How did he communicate with other cells? "I can't comment, because I don't know."
12.08 Is the "manifesto" biographically accurate? "I don't know." He would like to be able to read some of it during his court case, but "whether he will be allowed to, I don't know."
12.07 "In his mind, he succeeded", he says. "He expected to be stopped earlier in the day, for police to get to him at the time of the bombing. He was surprised to get to the island."
12.06 Shouldn't you tell him that you're a member of the Labour party, since he has shown so much hate towards it? "He hates everyone who is democratic. Everyone who is not extreme, he will hate."
12.05 Has he shown any empathy to the victims? "No. He's sorry he had to do it, but he had to do it because he is in a war." Lippestad hasn't asked why Breivik picked him as a lawyer, and that he [Lippestad] was "in shock" to receive the call.
12.04 Is he a warm person, or a cold person? "My point of view is that he is a very cold person." Is he psychotic? "I don't know."
12.03 Is it possible to get a fair trial, to find a jury of Norwegians who are not influenced? "No-one is not influenced, but it is my job to make sure the trial is fair", says Lippestad.
12.02 Lippestad says his client should be in hospital, not in prison. "It will be a long court case", he says, talking about how the insanity defence will go; it will take time to prove his client is insane. "The legal process is very important", he says.
11.59 Interesting: Lippestad is a member of the Labour Party. He says that as far as he knows Breivik does not know that.
11.58 "If he doesn't want to follow my advice he can get a new lawyer", says Lippestad, who says that he will be offering an insanity defence. Breivik took drugs before his attack on Friday, he says, to stay strong and awake.
11.57 Lippestad won't comment on whether he has received death threats since taking the case, saying that Norwegians are very "loving" people who believe in democracy.
11.56 "This whole case indicates that he is insane", says Lippestad, asked whether Breivik has done anything in prison that would suggest he is insane. "He believes he is in a war, that nobody understands him, but that in 60 years we will all understand him."
11.55 The main court hearing is normally public, but it is too early to say whether that will be the case here, says Lippestad.
11.54 "I can't describe him, he's not like anyone else", says Lippestad, when asked what Breivik is like and whether he is polite. He says it's too early to say what his defence will be.
11.52 Lippestad doesn't know if Breivik is a suicide watch, and says it is a medical question whether he is a suicide risk. His family have not asked to see him and he has seen no-one.
Geir Lippestad, the defence lawyer for Anders Behring Breivik11.51 "He believes he is in a war", says Lippestad, explaining why he has admitted to carrying out the atrocities but still pleaded not guilty, "and in war you can do these things".
11.48 "It's too early to say anything about the case", says Geir Lippestad, asked about witnesses. He says that he was disappointed that yesterday's court hearing was closed.
Asked why Breivik looked tired, he says "He's exhausted. He's in a very special situation." He is being questioned, he goes on, but only in normal daylight hours. He is co-operating with police.
"He has a view on reality which is very rare", he says. He expected to be tortured by Norwegian police as a result of that view. He told the lawyer that he acted alone, but that there are other cells - so no-one from those cells helped him with this attack, if indeed they exist. Lippestad doesn't know where the police uniform came from, or where the other purported cells are.
11.44 Breivik's lawyer has said that his client expected to be killedon Friday, according to Channel 4's Carl Dinnen.
11.39 Henning Mankell, the author of Wallander, writes in The Guardian that Breivik's actions mark "a ghastly return of Übermensch mentality that was the mark of Hitler's Nazism", but warns Norway against a draconian response:
It may be impossible to completely defend oneself and one's country against these actions, but we must try. We must defend the open society, because if we start locking our doors, if we let fear decide, the person who committed the act of terror will win. He will have injected fear into our community. As Franklin D Roosevelt put it: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."11.20 "The long process of identifying Anders Behring Breivik's victims begins", writes Raf Sanchez, who has provided a list of the names known so far.
(Clockwise from top left) Hanne Kristine Fridtun, Tore Eikeland, Hanne Lovile and Rafal Yasin11.12 The areas of Oslo that were closed after the bomb have now been reopened, according to Markus Karlsson, a Norwegian and the business editor of France24.com. People are walking around, inspecting the damage, he says. Meanwhile Michelle Shephard of the Toronto Star tweets that the scene outside the Oslo cathedral is "amazing to see: a street of flowers that just keeps coming".
11.00 Geert Wilders, the anti-Islamic Dutch politician, has also made a statement about Breivik. He says:
The manifesto makes it clear that the perpetrator is a madman. That the fight against Islam is violently abused by a psychopath is disgusting, a slap in the face of the global anti-Islamic movement. It fills me with disgust that the perpetrator refers to me and [Wilders's political party] the Freedom Party [PVV] in his manifesto. Neither PVV nor I are responsible for a lone idiot who twists and violently abuses the freedom-loving anti-Islamisation ideals. We are democrats at heart. The Freedom Party has never called for violence and never will do.10.45 Erik Hellsborn, a Swedish far-Right politician, has said in his blog that "multiculturalism, immigration and Islamisation are to blame" for Breivik's actions.
What was it that really drove Behring Breivik? In the manifesto, he says very clearly: anxiety. Concern that multiculturalism and Islamisation threaten the Christian West's existence. In a Norwegian Norway, where the Left's preposterous dreams of a multicultural society had not taken root, this tragedy would never have happened. If there was no Islamisation and mass immigration, there would have been nothing to trigger Behring Breivik to do what he did.The massacre in Norway may be the worst atrocity of Scandinavia since World War II, but this is no bolt from the blue. This is what multiculturalism is doing.
In a follow-up post, after he was accused of absolving Breivik of blame, Hellsborn said: "What has happened in Norway is terrible. Breivik is a loathsome human being. Breivik has the ultimate responsibility for what has happened. Anyone who believes that I think anything other than this is lying."
10.23 The Norwegian justice minister, Knut Storberget, has praised the "fantastic" work carried out by the police in stopping Breivik, despite the hour and a half it took them to get to the island and arrest him:
I had the opportunity to thank police in Oslo and other districts and other organs for their fantastic work. These are people who worked much harder than you could expect of anyone, these are people who interrupted their holidays and who volunteered to help from all parts of the country.10.20 In his rambling manifesto, Anders Behring Breivik praised Japan as a "model country", according to the Japanese news agencyKyodo:
Breivik also commended Japan for not allowing many Muslims to immigrate, although the country has no ban on specific ethnic or religious groups.Immigration is a sensitive topic in Japan, where many people worry that letting in more foreigners would mean more crime and less social cohesion while experts say that the country's shrinking, ageing population make opening up vital.
10.16 John Bingham, our reporter, emails to say that the Norwegian Labour Party is going to announce the plan for the future of Utoya island at 1pm Oslo time (noon BST), in Oslo. Presumably some sort of major memorial is being planned, but whether the island will continue as a base for party youth is not clear. We'll cover the announcement when it happens.
10.03 While we're rounding up coverage from elsewhere, here's Eugene Robinson in The Washington Post, talking about "Anders Behring Breivik and the influence industry of rage" - saying that anti-Muslim rhetoric in the press and blogosphere may have influenced Breivik:
In a 1,500-page screed setting out his philosophy, Breivik referred favorably to the work of several well-known anti-Muslim polemicists in the United States — zealots who usually boast of their influence but now, for some reason, seek to deny it...[One blogger, Robert Spencer] responded that “the Breivik murders are being used to discredit all resistance to the global jihad and Islamic supremacism.” He sought to draw a parallel: “Charles Manson thought he heard instructions to kill in the Beatles song ‘Helter Skelter,’ and committed mass murder. There were no instructions to kill in the song.”
The comparison is absurd, of course. There’s nothing in “Helter Skelter” about Sharon Tate or any of Manson’s other victims; the angriest line is “You may be a lover but you ain’t no dancer.” Spencer’s oeuvre, by contrast, is all about how Muslims supposedly threaten all who love peace and freedom.
A Norwegian flag is held up amidst flowers as an estimated 100,000 people gather in Oslo town centre for a vigil following Friday's attacks. (Photo: GETTY)09.50 The Financial Times asks whether, under the shiny "model society" image of Scandinavian nations, "a dark and venomous place exists" that gives rise to hatred like Breivik's - registration required:
Beyond the democratic parties of the populist right, Scandinavia is home to a more troublesome extremist fringe. Although many know of the darker side of modern Scandinavian life from the crime writing of Stieg Larsson, the Swedish author who died in 2004 spent much of his career monitoring the far right as editor of Expo, an anti-racism magazine. When Expo was set up in 1995, the far right was considered the dominant violent threat to Sweden. Indeed, a spate of attacks by Swedish neo-Nazis came in the years that followed, including the car bombing of a journalist who had investigated the white supremacist movement. But after the September 2001 assault on the US, attention switched to Islamic extremism.09.43 The Guardian has run an opinion piece by Gavan Titley andAlana Lentin, saying that politicians and columnists are wrong to claim that Anders Behring Breivik has merely had an "aberrant reaction to understandable provocation":
The political class should reflect before responding to the tragedy in Norway, particularly when "austerity" politics may make the scapegoating of immigrant-descended and Muslim groups worse. No easy connections can be made between the recorded thoughts of a killer and the complex circulation of political ideas. However, writers who have consistently warned of the need to defend an ailing civilisation have questions to answer when a massacre is explicitly justified in their terms. And mainstream politicians, content to lazily peddle an exaggerated story of multicultural excess and Muslim difference are not exempt from this criticism.09.32 VG, the Norwegian tabloid, has a moving collage of the faces of the known victims so far on its home page - here's the translated page. They also say, defiantly, "Evil can kill a man, but never defeat a whole people", over a story saying that 200,000 people turned out in Oslo to honour those who died on Friday.
9.22 Employees from the Justice Ministry are still missing, four days after the attacks on Oslo and Utoya.
Justice Minister Knut Storberget said the department "has people who are missing, we have people who are very hard hit by this and we are without offices."
Police are continuing to search for several people missing from both scenes.
9.12 Breivik may have poisoned the bullets he used to massacre teenagers at the Labour Party youth camp, it has been reported. In his manifesto, he makes reference to ordering nicotine that he planned to inject into the rounds to cause maximum damage.
3-4 drops will be injected in hollow point rifle bullets which will effectively turn it into a lethal chemical weapon."I specifically instructed the Chinese supplier to send the package by courier to my company name, with extra wrapping and chemical labelling."
A police source in Oslo told the Daily Mail that police were still carrying out toxicology tests on the recovered bullets. We already knew that he had used dum-dum rounds - bullets designed to explode inside the body causing enormous internal damage.
9.05 Michael Morpurgo has written a piece in The Times (£) with suggestions on what the people of Britain can do to support Norway.
At Christmas time every year, in solidarity with us after the terrible years of the Second World War, the Norwegians send us a Christmas tree to put up in Trafalgar Square. Wouldn’t it be an idea if we offered to plant a tree on that island, as a symbol of our solidarity with the Norwegian people?We share their stories, their pain and their hope.
9.02 The Norwegian tabloid VG has obtained footage showing people fleeing the centre of Olso in the moments after Breivik's bomb detonated.
9.01 Norwegian police could seek to charge Breivik with crimes against humanity, which can carry a maximum of 30 years in prison.
Police spokesman Sturla Henreiksboe said: "Police have so far cited... the law on terrorism but seeking other charges has not been excluded."
9.01 The leader of the English Defence League, Stephen Lennon, has been forced to deny his organisation had any formal links with Breivik, despite some of his members admitting they had met with him.
Speaking on Newsnight last night, Lennon said:
He's ideologically so far apart from us, he called us naive fools. Our relationship with this man is completely opposite - we encourage integration.We should be trying to learn from this... this man was a sick individual you could never use attacks like he did.
9.01 British police are still hunting for a man known as Richard that Breivik describes as his "assigned mentor" and claims to have met in London in 2002. Last night, the Daily Telegraph went in search of a right-wing blogger named Paul Ray, who blogs as the Lionheart.Duncan Gardham reports:
The Lionheart closed his blog on Thursday, but reopened it on Sunday to post: “A crackpot killing innocent Norwegian children in the name of anti-government politics. The extreme far-right of the political spectrum that has no place in modern civilised society.”In Bedfordshire, a man answering to the name Paul Ray said "I haven't got anything to hide".
Shown a picture that appeared to be him with the caption Lionheart, Mr Ray said: “That’s not me.”
He denied knowing Breivik or writing a blog.
Ray had initially denied any involvement in Right-wing politics.
9.00 Around 100,000 people marched through Olso for peace last night - some say as many as 200,000. Each brought a single rose. Moving footage here:
9.00 Breivik could be held in one of the world's most progressive prisons, where inmates enjoys cells equipped with flat screen televisions, minifridges and designer-style furniture. I've done a little profile ofHalden Fengsel prison:
The jail is spread over 75 acres of woodland just outside Oslo and facilities include a sound studio, jogging trails and a two-bedroom house separate from the main facility where convicts can stay with their families during overnight visits.Guards move around the prison unarmed and often play sports or eat meals with the men they are tasked with watching. Half of the prison staff are women, a policy based on research which shows a female presence induces a less aggressive atmosphere.
In a far cry from the brutalist set up of British or American prisons, there is even a "kitchen laboratory" where inmates can take specialist cooking courses.
9.00 Andrew Gilligan warns that the West must not be complacent about Islamist terror in the wake of Breivik's attack.
Clearly, the number killed by Anders Behring Breivik is greater than in any single Islamist terror attack in the UK; and equally clearly, the murderer was motivated by hatred of Muslims.This cannot, however, have been his main motive, or he surely would have taken his assault rifle to an Oslo mosque, rather than an island of white teenagers.
To even suggest equivalence between years of Islamist terror and the far Right, based on a single, awful case, is deeply dangerous and false.
8.59 Breivik's father has said the gunman should have turned the gun on himself, John Bingham reports:
Jens Breivik, a retired diplomat who served at the country’s London embassy, said that he would have to live with the shame of his son’s actions for the rest of his life adding: “No one normal could do that.”The 76, year-old, who now lives in the south of France, admitted that it was a hard thing for a father to think his own son should be dead but said he was filled with “despair” at what he had done.
“I think that ultimately he should have taken his own life rather than kill so many people,” he said in the interview with Norway’s TV2 channel.
8.58 It was revealed that Breivik had come to the attention of Norway's intelligence service in March when he bought a large quantity of chemicals from a Polish company. Nick Meo files from Oslo:
However, they failed to discover his bomb plot and appear to have done nothing to check why he wanted the chemicals or to have monitored him in the months before he launched his murderous rampage.Janne Kristiansen head of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), said that Breivik’ came to police’s attention because of a purchase from a Polish business selling chemicals, but the incident was judged too insignificant to warrant a follow-up.
“In March, we received ... a list of 50-60 names and his name was on it because he spent 120 krone (15 euros or 22 dollars) at a business in Poland, the head of the PST, which reports directly to the ministry of justice, told Norway’s public television channel NRK.
“This business was under surveillance because it was selling other chemical products.”
8.57 Neil Tweedie describes the scene in central Oslo as Breivik appeared before a court for the first time
Outside the court thousands of Breivik’s countrymen gathered to express outrage at his actions, with some calling for his execution. To ensure the killer’s safety he was driven to court in a fast-moving convoy of police jeeps, arriving via an underpass closed to the public. Wearing a pink T-shirt and red Lacoste sweater, Breivik wore a satisfied smile as he was photographed sitting in the back of one vehicle.“Everyone here wants him dead,” said Alexander Roeine, 24, a friend of one of the dead.
People stood on the tables of cafes with a view of the court’s underground carpark in the hope of catching a glimpse of Breivik. One young woman said: “We want to show him that this our city, not his; that we are many and he is one.”
8.57 The shocking scenes in Norway have prompted a review of Britain's policies towards the threat of extreme nationalism. Robert Winnett reports:
The Prime Minister has asked the security services and police to consider their scrutiny of groups such as the English Defence League and report any concerns or recommendations to the Government’s National Security Council (NSC).Broader issues such as the licensing of firearms and the supply of ammunition and fertilisers which can be used for bombs will also be scrutinised.
Security officials have been asked to study contingency plans to ensure that adequate measures are in place to react to any “copycat” shooting spree by an extremist in this country.
The Prime Minister ordered the urgent work yesterday morning at a meeting of the NSC which was dominated by discussions over the Norwegian atrocity.
8.56 Anders Behring Breivik, the self-confessed killer, had made contact with the far-right English Defence League and warned that there were "two more cells" prepared to carry out attacks. Gordon Raynerand Mark Hughes report:
Breivik was understood to have met leaders of the EDL in March last year when he came to London for the visit of Geert Wilders, the Dutch Right-wing politician. Daryl Hobson, who organises EDL demonstrations, said Breivik, who told police there were “two more cells” ready to follow him, had met members of the group.Another senior member of the EDL said Breivik had been in regular contact with its members via Facebook, and had a “hypnotic” effect on them.
Scotland Yard was investigating Breivik’s claims that he began his deadly “crusade” after being recruited to a secret society in London, and that he was guided by an English “mentor”. David Cameron, who was being kept updated on developments, said Breivik’s claims were being taken “extremely seriously”.
Breivik wrote of having strong links with the EDL, saying he had met its leaders and had 600 EDL members as Facebook friends.
8.50BST (9.50 Norway) Good morning and welcome back to our live blog, bringing you all the latest developments from the tragedy in Norway.
Previous coverage
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Suppose that we will hear all sorts of accusations from here on in.
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http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb...
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Are all Norwegians remanded for child murders held incommunicado with their defence lawyer releasing prejudicial statements to the press? if not why so in this case?
Has he asked for and received a visit from a clergyman?
Are any Freemasons involved in the supervision of this prisoner?
Will there be independent verification that he is being held in conditions that will enable his appearance at trial (provided he is fit to plead)?
The way this case is managed is important to ensure he does not become a martyr or the subject of speculation should he happen to meet his death whilst in custody like Rudolf Hess or the Baader-Meinhof gang.
Due process of law needs to be done and seen to be done.
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In the scheme of things he's a very little Morlock. There are many other Morlocks too, who howl for blood from their towers every friday. But shhhh! discretion.....!
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Probably there is enough material there for them to keep going for over a year! :D
I hope it's a small, independent studio that does it; if Hollywood get their hands on the rights, they'll put their left-wing spin machine into overdrive.
Sorry, I can only conclude you're a sick individual.
Have a good day... no, actually not.
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All I can say is: the EDL are an utter disgrace to this country.
Chris, is the EDL totally fake and a fraud?
Chris, are you sure the EDL is not committing acts of treason?
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And you voted for him.
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1-Europe is made up of nations each with its own identity and culture.
2-Europeans were never consulted whether they wanted naturalizing all these foreign immigrants.
The oil-rich Islamic world employ foreigners on work permits only and when their permit expires either it is renewed or the foreign workers have to live their lands. All foreign births are registered at their embassies. Just because one is born in the Islamic world has no right for naturalization. Muslims in the West are taking over with their high birth rate. This should never have been allowed.
Europeans should have done just the same. No handing over passports like cookies. Once you give foreigners passports they become co-owners of our lands.
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We've got a problem here as well with fringe nutjobs of all kinds. They get heard cuz they shout loudest. It's sad, but sense usually prevails in the end! Here's hoping!
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The 3 most pressing issues and you diagnose it as obsession. Mind you, you're being kind because some of your ilk would diagnose us insane.
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What you have just written may just as well have been cut n pasted from your dear leader's grubby manifesto.
I do not, nor will I ever support actions of mindless and indiscriminate murder.
Damn these people that don't tow the liberal line. They should all be shot, eh?
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King Richard the loin heart, the templars were his guard and led his army into battle against the Muslims.
he met a guy in London called Richard,lol
This is pure Hollywood.
Hollywood must be having a sequel to the "kingdom of heaven", that film ended as Richard landed, that is when the templars became the power that history recalls
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No answer yet from the man himself...
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Also he has been labelled a neo-Nazi but included Hitler in his list of war criminals. Either he is cracking up under the strain or something looks odd.
Just occurred to me, he is supposed to have admitted to using prostitutes and make-up, this is hardly likely to portray the sort of image he appears to want. He may be insane but he doesn't strike me as stupid.
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pmsl
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The killings are horrific and the mad man needs never to see the light of day again..
but a politics camp ???
That's how the left and the deluded populace view it, unfortunately.
Say that at work and you'll no doubt get sacked for racism.
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They engaged in debate, democracy and politics. What's sinister with that?
Isn't much more sinister to hunt and kill foxes with dogs? No? But kids actively taking part in a peaceful democratic excersise is sinister? Really??
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They are watching.
Yeah, the truth... The truth is some self-proclaimed 'saviour of Europe' went on a killing-spree, cowardly killed unarmed, peaceful young pople and was driven by blind hatered and targeted everyone who opposed his crooked world-view.
I think that's the only truth here.
Everything else seems to be just halfbaked, prejudiced drivel. Sorry.
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