Norway Terror Attack Suspect Faces Second Interrogation

The suspect - Anders Behring Breivik

CNN - Police are preparing to interview Anders Behring Breivik, the suspect in last week's terrorist attacks in Norway, for a second time on Friday.


Anders Behring Breivik is the suspect for the twin terror attacks in Norway. He's suspected of detonating a bomb outside governments buildings and opening fire at summer camp. Breivik appeared in court on Monday.


Breivik, who is being kept in solitary confinement at Ila Prison, near Oslo, was last interviewed Saturday, a day after a bomb blast outside government buildings in the Norwegian capital and a mass shooting on the island of Utoya claimed at least 76 lives. The prison held Nazi prisoners during World War II. "We are giving him pillow, sheet and shelter for a few weeks," the prison governor said.


Police attorney Pal-Frederick Hjort Kraby said police had since gained a considerable amount of new information and were ready to question Breivik again at police headquarters. He is likely to face more interrogations in the coming weeks.


Meanwhile, the search for more victims of Friday's shooting rampage on Utoya island has ended, Police Chief Johan Fredriksen said Thursday. However, later in the day, the police website said the search in the water around the island was ongoing. More than 50 investigators remained on the island and will likely remain there for several more weeks, officials said.


A key question is whether Breivik acted alone. "At this moment in time we don't think there are more people involved in this action, and we don't know whether there are more bombs," said Janne Kristiansen, director of the Norwegian intelligence police. But she downplayed the possibility of further carnage. "We think, more than likely, he has been on his own and nothing is going to happen here," she said. "So people should go on living their lives."


Technicians and explosives experts were still trying to figure out how big the bomb was that rocked a government building in downtown Oslo, killing eight people. Authorities had not yet determined whether the building could be restored or would need to be rebuilt, Kristiansen said.


She said Breivik acted lawfully during his preparations, registering his weapons and using his farm as a front to collect the fertilizer that powered the bomb. His meticulousness extended to his communications with others, even in his Internet messages, which were "very moderate," she said. 
"He has been what we call a lone wolf," she added. "With a lone wolf, they always operate alone, having no accomplices anywhere, and this is, obviously, what he has done."
But, she added, "We believe that he might have had contacts in the rest of the world and we're investigating this."


His primary goal: "The focus from the world press, which he now has," Kristiansen said. "He's totally evil, and he's using us, and he's using you -- especially the media -- to bring forward his voice."


Sixty-eight people are confirmed dead in the attack on the island, where a summer camp for the Labour Party's youth movement was taking place. As of Thursday, authorities had released the identities of 41 of the dead.


Breivik has admitted carrying out the bombing in Oslo, in which eight people died, and the shootings on Utoya, his lawyer and a judge have said. He has also pleaded not guilty.


He currently has contact only with his lawyer and the prison staff who take him food, Kraby said. The investigation is complex and it will likely be months before Breivik comes to trial, the lawyer added.


The suspect had spent a lot of time and money preparing for the attacks, the lawyer said, so it was important to be careful.


A government spokesman on the Justice Committee, Jan Bohler, predicted Breivik would receive an unconditional sentence, meaning one that would extend well beyond the theoretical maximum of 21 years set by Norwegian law, thereby ensuring he does not ever get out of prison. Norway does not have the death penalty.

Double Terror Attacks Kill 91 in Norway

Norway after the terror attacks

FT.com - At least 91 people were killed in an apparent twin terrorist attack on Norway, after a large bomb was detonated outside government buildings in Oslo and a gunman opened fire at a summer camp attended by hundreds of young people.

Police said at least seven people were killed on Friday by the suspected car bomb. A Reuters report citing Norwegian police also said at least 84 were killed at the youth camp, organised by Norway’s ruling Labour party, on an island near Utoya, 40km north-west of Oslo.

Motivation for the devastating attacks – the most serious terrorist assault in Europe since 52 people were killed on the London transport system in 2005 by Islamist extremists – was unclear.

Police detained the suspect, a 32-year old, white “ethnic” Norwegian who was named by local media as Anders Behring Breivik, and charged him for the island killing spree and the Oslo bomb blast.

Roger Andresen, deputy police chief, would not speculate on the man’s motives but told a news conference: “He describes himself as a Christian, leaning toward right-wing Christianity, on his Facebook page.”

Jens Stoltenberg, Norwegian prime minister, told a press conference on Saturday: “What happened at Utoya is a national tragedy. Not since the second world war has our country seen a greater crime. Compared with other countries I wouldn’t say we have a big problem with right-wing extremists in Norway. But we have had some groups, we have followed them before, and our police is aware that there are some right-wing groups”.

Earlier, Mr Stoltenberg said the country had been “shaken by evil” but would not be cowed by terrorism.

“I have a message for whoever attacked us and those behind it. It’s a message from all of Norway: You will not destroy us. You will not destroy our democracy or our ideals for a better world.”

Hanne Skartveit, political editor at newspaper Verdens Gang, whose offices are across the street from the site of the Oslo bomb, said: “Norway’s lost its innocence. From today, this will be a different Norway. Both with respect to internal security, in an open and democratic country, and how we look at the world. It is a heavy day.”

US president Barack Obama led international condemnation of the attack. “It’s a reminder that the entire international community holds a stake in preventing this kind of terror from occurring,” he said.

TV2 said police raided a house where the detained suspect lived. The street was cordoned off because of fears of explosives at the property.

Thomas Hegghammer, terrorism expert at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, a think-tank linked to Norway’s armed forces, said questions would now be raised as to whether the police had neglected the dangers of rightwing extremism, if the suspect proved to be part of such a network.

In an annual threat assessment published in January, the Norwegian security service said “far-right and far-left extremist communities will not pose a serious threat to Norwegian society in 2011”. However it said there had been an increased level of activity within some of these groups during 2010 and predicted this could rise further.

The Oslo blast, which was heard by people at least 7km away, caused extensive damage to a complex of government buildings housing the prime minister’s office and the ministries of finance and petroleum. Police said it was most likely a car bomb although this could not yet be confirmed.

Broken glass and other debris rained down on surrounding streets and many people could be seen afterwards receiving treatment for serious injuries.

Norway’s public broadcaster NRK quoted one of its journalists as saying: “The whole building shook. We thought it was an earthquake. There are people on the streets bleeding. There is glass everywhere. There is chaos here. The windows are blown out of all the nearby buildings.”

Another eyewitness reported seeing “a column of flames” rise as high as the fifth floor of surrounding buildings after the bomb detonated.