Norway Attacks News Round Up

Norway Attacks News Round Up:

Above: Norwegian PM Jens Stoltenberg embraces Eskil Pedersen, leader of the Workers’ Youth League.

Suspect: 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik, who was arrested on Utøya Island following the youth camp massacre which claimed 86 lives (at least 4 remain missing), has reportedly admitted to carrying out both the shooting at the Workers’ Youth League gathering and the bombing of the Prime Minister’s offices in Oslo, where at least 7 people lost their lives; despite his admission, Breivik pled not guilty, and told police his actions were “gruesome but necessary“; he further claimed he acted alone, saying police should “verify everything that he said“; six people were arrested following a police raid in Oslo, but were released a short time later; the police say they have no additional suspects at this time, but accomplices may turn up; Scotland Yard is reportedly investigating possible British ties to the Norway attacks in light of Breivik’s boasts.

Utøya Shooting & Police Response: Report: Breivik used dum-dum bullets for maximum injury; Utøya shooting lasted nearly an hour before police arrived at the scene; Breivik was arrested two minutes later; still had “a lot of ammunition”; local police blame a leaky boat for the delay, saying the vessel sent was “too small and way too poor”; questioned why it took police 25 minutes to arrive at the pier, Hoenefoss police chief Sissel Hammer asked for understanding “of the fact that it takes time to send out a special armed force“; acting national police chief Sveinung Sponheim told reporters that waiting for a helicopter to transport the anti-terror unit would have taken longer than the 40-minute drive from Oslo.

Manifesto: “2083: A European Declaration of Independence,” a 1,500-page manifesto attributed to Breivik, was posted online several hours before the attacks; in the document, which was reportedly written over the course of nine years, Breivik, who is alleged to have ties to far-right organizations, associates himself with the Knights Templar and calls for the targeting of “cultural Marxists/ multiculturalist traitors” and an all-out Christian war to defend Europe against Islam; the manifesto refers to a “Plan B” — understood to be Friday’s attacks — necessary to draw attention to Breivik’s writings; Breivik began organizing “Plan B” in 2009; a Norwegian paper reports that the document contains many parts copied from the manifesto of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski; National Police Chief Sponheim told reporters Breivik’s motive remains unclear, but that investigators were studying the alleged manifesto.

Father: Breivik’s father, who has not seen his son since 1995, interviewed in France, says he learned about the attacks online, has “not recovered yet.”

Trial: Breivik will make his first court appearance tomorrow, where he plans to “explain himself,” according to his lawyer Geir Lippestad; Telegraph: Breivik could spend the rest of his life in prison — or he could be out by 2021.

Memorial: A memorial service for the victims of the attacks was held in Oslo Cathedral, and attended by the King and Queen of Norway, as well as Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg; King Harald V was spotted openly weeping during the service; PM Stoltenberg in memorial address: “Our response is more democracy, more openness, and more humanity.”

[bbc / guardian / cnn / telegraph / breakingnews / reuters / slate / ap / latimes / photo: aftenbladet.]