At Least 91 Dead in Norway Attacks
By SVEN GRUNDBERG and ANNA MOLIN
OSLO—At least 91 people were killed in two attacks in Norway's capital and a nearby island Friday, devastating the nation and prompting its leaders to hold a crisis meeting to discuss the terrorism threat level.
An undated image on Facebook shows the 32-year-old suspected attacker, whom local media identified as Anders Behring Breivik.
"Never since the Second World War has our country been hit by a crime on this scale," Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg told a press conference in Oslo.
Police said 84 people, many teenagers, were killed in the Friday afternoon shooting at a summer camp for the youth wing of the ruling Labor party, AUF, on the island of Utoya. The rampage followed a bombing that ripped through government offices in the Norwegian capital and killed at least seven people and wounded nine or 10 more. The mass shooting was among the worst in history and political leaders world-wide condemned the killings.
Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg hugs Labour Youth Wing leader Eskil Pedersen (R) in Sunvold July 23, 2011.
Oslo police chief of staff Roger Andresen said Saturday the death toll could rise further and that police continued to scour the waters outside the island for potential victims. About 600 people were on the island, Norway's foreign minister said.
A 32-year-old Oslo resident and Norwegian citizen was arrested on suspicion of the twin attacks Friday. Media reports identified the man as blond-haired, and blue-eyed Anders Behring Breivik. Police declined to name him, but confirmed the reports that the suspect's Facebook postings suggest he is a Christian right-wing extremist with anti-Muslim views who runs a farm. According to media reports, Mr. Behring Breivik has two weapons registered to his name.
Mr. Andresen said the suspect is willing to talk and that the initial interrogations suggest he "wants to explain himself."
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Emergency workers attended the scene as a building burned after an explosion in Oslo, Norway, Friday.
Witnesses told Norwegian national public radio, NRK, that the suspect dressed as a policeman and told the teenagers he wanted them to gather before opening fire. Many ran for the waters and tried to swim away from the shooter.
Oslo police inspector Einar Aas told Norwegian daily VG that police are currently investigating the possibility of a second shooter on the island. According to media reports, witnesses said a man who was not wearing a police uniform also fired shots.
Megan Will (right) from USA and Santina Crolla (left) from Norway visit the Oslo cathedral to light candles to show respect to those killed at the July 22 shooting spree at the Utoya island.
The 32-year old suspect on May 4 bought fertilizer in Hedmark in southeastern Norway from Felleskjopet Agri, a cooperative which provides agricultural equipment, company spokeswoman Oddny Estenstad said.
Norway's capital was shaken Friday by a powerful explosion at the government headquarters that left at least seven dead and several injured, an incident that was followed by an attack at a youth camp outside the city. Charles Duxbury has the latest.
Felleskjopet Agri recognized the name of the 32-year old's company, Geofarm, Ms. Estenstad said, adding that it was the first time he had bought supplies from them.
Ms. Estenstad said her company has provided Norwegian police with information about the purchase. She wouldn't speculate in whether the 32-year old may have used the fertilizers to construct the explosives used in Friday's attack.
The fertilizers were standard products commonly used by vegetable farmers, which can be sold without any restrictions, she said.
Downtown Oslo
Oslo police official Johan Fredriksen said the 32-year-old had more than one weapon on him when arrested by Oslo police special task forces. He declined to say when authorities received the first alarm from Utoya or how quickly they were able to apprehend the suspect. The Oslo explosion was reported at 1530 local time and police said it took about two hours before they could conclude a bomb caused it.
The task force traveled by car and boat to Utoya, which is about a 30-minute car ride from Oslo and roughly one kilometer off the coast northwest of Oslo. It remains unclear how the suspect traveled to the island, but according to police he was observed in the Oslo area earlier that day.
Youth camp leader Eskil Pedersen said he was "in shock and sorrow" and that there was "no doubt" in his mind that AUF was the target of the attack on Utoya. Pedersen was evacuated from the island by boat shortly after police arrived.
He said AUF would return to Utoya in the future.
Norway Attacks
See the locations of an explosion in Oslo and an attack at a youth camp.
"We meet terror and violence with more democracy and will continue to fight against intolerance," he said.
Authorities declined to comment on the motive for the attack and said they continued to investigate whether the suspect acted alone or with others.
Prime Minister Stoltenberg, who personally knew several of the teenagers and families affected, said he needed more information to comment on the possibility of a politically motivated attack.
The attacks come only six months after a suicide bomber blew himself up on a busy shopping street in the capital of neighboring Sweden, killing only himself. In September, an Iraqi Kurd, one of three men arrested in July in the Oslo area and in the German city of Duisburg, confessed to planning an attack, with the target believed to be Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper known for publishing controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. On Friday, Norway TV reported that a group called Helpers of the Global Jihad said, "This is just the beginning of what will come," though the TV station said it was unclear whether the group was taking responsibility.
Analysis firm Stratfor Global Intelligens said the wider implications for the rest of Europe will depend on who stands behind the attack.
If the attack is the work of a disturbed individual acting alone, the events will have few long-ranging repercussions beyond a reworking of domestic security procedures in Norway, Stratfor said.
If a person or group with far-right or neo-Nazi leanings was behind the attack, the incident could lead to a temporary loss of popularity for the far right across Europe, though long-term repercussions are unlikely, it added.
Members of government are assembling Saturday to discuss emergency coordination as well as the threat level, which has so far been left unchanged.
At least two people are dead after a massive bomb shatters Norway's main government building in Oslo.
"The debate about the threat level is ongoing. When the threat level isn't changed, it doesn't mean that we haven't implemented security measures. The definition is not relevant for what sort of measures we are carry through," Norway's Justice Minister Knut Storberget said.
Despite the Oslo blast that blew out the windows of the high-rise where the prime minister and his administration work and damaged government offices such as the oil ministry, Mr. Stoltenberg said the functioning and the preparedness of the government hadn't been impaired.
Police said a car bomb may have been used in the blast along with other explosives, although details aren't confirmed.
Television images showed a body lying in a street of Oslo littered with broken glass and a charred upturned vehicle.
Military forces troll the deserted streets of Oslo to back up police and provide additional security to buildings and sensitive infrastructure. Most roads remain closed to and from the government quarters in Oslo, but police Saturday withdrew their recommendation people stay indoors.
Write to Anna Molin at anna.molin@dowjones.com
PM: Norway must be free, not afraid
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has said he hopes Norway remains an open and free society "without being afraid", after Friday's twin attacks that left at least 92 people dead.
At least 85 people died when a gunman opened fire at an island youth camp, just hours after a bomb attack killed seven in Oslo.
Police have charged a 32-year-old Norwegian man in connection with both attacks.
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