Fausta's Blog

Contrary to initial reports, the murderous terrorist is not an Islamist,

Bomb Suspect Is a Mystery

The 32-year-old man suspected of massacring at least 80 young people at a summer camp in Norway and setting off a bomb in downtown Oslo that killed at least seven is a mystery to investigators: a right-winger with anti-Muslim views but no known links to hard-core extremists.

“He just came out of nowhere,” a police official said.

Public broadcaster NRK and several other Norwegian media outlets identified the suspected attacker as Anders Behring Breivik, a blond, blue-eyed Norwegian who expressed right-wing and anti-Muslim views on the Internet. Police have the suspect in custody.

Norwegian news agency NTB said Mr. Breivik legally owned several firearms and belonged to a gun club. He ran an agricultural firm growing vegetables, an enterprise that could have helped him secure large amounts of fertilizer, a potential ingredient in bombs.

But he didn’t belong to any known factions in Norway’s small and splintered extreme-right movement and had no criminal record except for some minor offenses, the police official told the Associated Press.

Was he acting alone?

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.

What would it mean for the region?

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.

The WSJ article, At Least 91 Dead in Norway Attacks, illustrates well how a police investigation develops.

More on the killer at Brutally Honest.

John Hinderaker: Norway, a postscript.

UPDATE
Who added “Christian” and “Conservative” to Norway shooter’s Facebook page yesterday?

UPDATE:
Gun attack,

Shortly after the explosions, which appeared to be a bomb attack, a man dressed as a police officer opened fire on a summer camp for young members of the ruling Labor Party on the island of Utoya in the Oslo fjord, about 25 miles from the city, and wounded at least five, a Norwegian security official said.
…
A terror group, Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami, or the Helpers of the Global Jihad, issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, according to Will McCants, a terrorism analyst at C.N.A., a research institute that studies terrorism. The message said the attack was a response to Norwegian forces’ presence in Afghanistan and to unspecified insults to the Prophet Muhammad. “We have warned since the Stockholm raid of more operations,” the group said, according to Mr. McCants’ translation, apparently referring to a bombing in Sweden in December 2010. “What you see is only the beginning, and there is more to come.” The claim could not be confirmed.

H/t Instapundit.

Gates of Vienna and The Guardian have constant updates.

Oslo Explosion: One of Two Blasts Result of Massive Vehicle Bomb, Sources Say

At least one of two explosions that rocked a Norwegian government building in Oslo today was result of a massive vehicle bomb, according to U.S. government sources on the scene.

The tangled wreckage of a vehicle was seen near the Norwegian government building that was targeted in the blast, officials said. It was not clear if the car was a bomb vehicle or near the site of a blast. At least one explosion was the result of a massive vehicle bomb, U.S. government sources said.

Richard Fernandez:

Now that human agency has been identified the next question will be who did it? No arrests or official accusations have yet been made, but Will Heaven, blogging in the Telegraph, cites three possible motives for an attack, all standard reasons for having incurred the wrath of al-Qaeda or a similar group. Others cite Norway’s attempts to deport an Islamic cleric, Mullah Krekar, who predicted dire consequences for Norwegian officialdom should they attempt to move against him. “Krekar’s defense attorney Brynjar Meling has tried to downplay Krekar’s remarks, saying they were merely a response to threats made against Krekar himself and in line with the teachings of the Koran.”