Norway suspect 'admits' twin gun and bomb attacks

ishtimes.com - Last Updated: Sunday, July 24, 2011, 15:33
Norway suspect 'admits' twin gun and bomb attacks

Anders Behring Breivik: Lawyer says he believed his actions 'were atrocious, but that in his head they were necessary'
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Norway Attacks
The man suspected of carrying out Friday's bomb and gun attacks in Norway that killed 93 people has admitted responsibility, his lawyer has said.

The death toll rose to 93 after one of theinjured died in hospital this morning.

In his first comment via a lawyer since he was arrested, 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik expressed willingness to explain himself in court at a hearing likely to be held tomorrow.

"He has said that he believed the actions were atrocious, but that in his head they were necessary," lawyer Geir Lippestad told independent TV2 news, adding that his client admitted to both the shootings and the bombing.

Police said Breivik gave himself up to armed officers when they arrived on the small island of Utoeya in a lake about 42km northwest of Oslo where at least 85 people were gunned down. Most were teenagers and young adults attending a summer camp of the youth wing of Norway's ruling Labour Party.

While some on the island reported that there was a second assailant and police said they were looking into that, Mr Lippestad said his client claims to have acted alone.

About 650 people were on the island when the gunman, wearing a police uniform according to witnesses, opened fire. Police said it took them one hour to stop the massacre from when they first received information about the shootings, the worst by a single gunman in modern times.

Authorities are investigating whether a possible second gunman took part in the shooting massacre and bomb attack.

Memorial services are being held across Norway including one at Oslo's Lutheran cathedral.

King Harald, his wife Queen Sonja and the prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, attended the Oslo memorial along with grieving relatives of those killed and wounded in the twin attacks.

Meanwhile, Norwegian police have detained several people in Oslo this morning in a raid linked to their investigatino into Friday's shootings and bomb attack.

Police defended the speed of their response to the second stage of the attack when the gunman was able to shoot unchallenged for a prolonged period on an island outside Oslo, shortly after the huge bomb went off in the capital.

"The response time from when we got the message was quick. There were problems with transport out to the island," police chief Sveinung Sponheim said, defending the delay.

Witnesses said the gunman picked off his victims at will, forcing youngsters to scatter in panic or to jump into the lake to swim for the mainland.

Breivik was also arrested for the bombing in Oslo's government district that killed seven people hours earlier. Norway's toughest sentence is 21 years in jail. Police believe Breivik drove to Utoeya after the explosion in the capital.

Survivors, relatives of those killed and supporters planned a procession to mourn the dead at Sundvollen today, near the island where the massacre took place.

King Harald is due to attend a service in Oslo cathedral, a few hundred metres from where a bomb devastated government buildings including the offices of Labour Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.

Police said they were seeking several missing people and the toll could rise to 98, in the worst case.

Mr Lippestad, speaking late yesterday, did not give more details of possible motives by Breivik.

Breivik hated "cultural marxists," wanted a "crusade" against the spread of Islam and liked guns and weightlifting, web postings, acquaintances and officials said.

A video posted on the YouTube website showed several pictures of Breivik, including one of him in a scuba diving outfit pointing an automatic weapon.

"Before we can start our crusade we must do our duty by decimating cultural marxism," said a caption under the video called "Knights Templar 2083" on the YouTube website, which took down the video on Saturday.

A Norwegian website provided a link to a 1,500 page electronic manifesto which says Breivik was the author. It was not possible to verify who posted the video or wrote the book.

"Once you decide to strike, it is better to kill too many than not enough, or you risk reducing the desired ideological impact of the strike," the book said.

Norway has traditionally been open to immigration, which has been criticised by the populist Progress Party, of which Breivik was a former member. The Labour Party, whose youth camp Breivik attacked, has long backed multi-culturalism to accommodate Norway's different ethnic communities.

About 100 people stood solemnly early today at a makeshift vigil near Oslo's main church, laying flowers and lighting candles. Soldiers with guns and wearing bullet-proof vests blocked streets leading to the government district