Norwegian killer says he was influenced by al-Qaeda

Norwegian killer says he was influenced by al-Qaeda

04/17 | 16:27 GMT

©AFP/Pool / Junge, Heiko

Right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik (R) talks with his defence lawyer Geir Lippestad

OSLO (AFP) - The gunman behind the Norway massacres said Tuesday he was inspired by Al-Qaeda and would repeat the carnage if he could as he took the stand on the second day of the trial.
Rightwing extremist Anders Behring Breivik said his twin attacks last year that killed 77 people were aimed at defending "ethnic Norwegians" from rising multiculturalism and that he "would have done it again."
Insisting that "universal human rights" gave him the mandate to carry out his acts, he described himself as a "militant nationalist" and, using the pronoun 'we' to suggest he was part of a larger group, added: "We have drawn from al-Qaeda and militant Islamists."
"You can see al-Qaeda as the most successful militant group in the world," Breivik told the court during questioning.

©AFP Graphic

Map of Breivik's killing spree in Norway

NATO's bombing of Serbia in 1999 and the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States also played a role in his radicalisation, he said.
Granted clearance earlier to address the court with a prepared text, Breivik described his July 22 attacks last year as a "preventive" attack to avoid a European culture war with Muslims.
After describing Christians as "a persecuted minority," the 33-year-old asked the court to acquit him while making clear he had no remorse.
Breivik said that spending his life in prison or dying for his people would be "the biggest honour."
Breivik had been granted 30 minutes to speak but ended up lecturing for 73 minutes, as chief judge Wenche Elizabeth Arntzen repeatedly urged him to wrap up quickly though the prosecution supported Breivik's wish to go on.
On July 22 last year, Breivik first killed eight people when he set off a bomb in a van parked outside buildings housing the offices of Labour Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who was not present at the time.

©AFP

Judge in Breivik trial dismissed: court. Duration: 01:20

He then travelled to Utoeya island where, dressed as a police officer, he spent more than an hour methodically shooting at hundreds of people attending a ruling Labour Party youth summer camp.
The shooting spree claimed 69 lives, mostly teens trapped on the small island surrounded by icy waters. It was the deadliest massacre ever committed by a lone gunman.
Breivik on Tuesday evoked the idea of accomplices, telling the court during questioning that two other one-person "cells" existed.
Police have previously said they had not been able to prove he had accomplices.
In his address to the judges, Breivik compared the Labour Party's youth wing AUF to the Hitler Youth, saying he targetted them on Utoeya because "most AUFs are naive and indoctrinated."
"These were not innocent children, but political activists," Breivik argued, as survivors and relatives of the victims shook their heads in disbelief and grew impatient for him to finish.
Television and radio were banned from broadcasting his remarks as there had been widespread concerns prior to the trial that Breivik would use his testimony as a platform to spread his Islamophobic and anti-immigration ideology to the masses.
Breivik described his attacks as "the most spectacular operation conducted by a militant nationalist this century" and claimed that "rivers of blood caused by Muslims" are now flowing in European cities.
"Multiculturalism is a self-destructive ideology," he said.

©AFP/Pool / Lise Aserud

Right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik (L) speaks with his lawyer Geir Lippestad during the second day of his trial

During questioning by prosecutor Inga Bejer Engh later, Breivik said he had toned down his address to spare the feelings of the survivors and victims of the families.
"I have never had any intention to act in an unacceptable way towards the (survivors and relatives) -- I have no intention of adding to the(ir) burden," he said.
"I can't even comprehend the suffering I have caused," he added.
He also explained why he had cried in court the previous day, when a 12-minute Islamophobic video he made and broadcast on the Internet on the day of the attacks was screened in the courtroom.
"Because my country is in the process of dying -- it was the sorrow over seeing my country... deconstructed," he said.
Breivik spoke in a calm and collected manner throughout the proceedings, and was cooperative during questioning, which had a friendly tone.
Ali Esbati, a Swede who survived the Utoeya shooting, thought Breivik didn't come across as "insane", he told AFP.
"He's coherent in a way, and that makes him of course more dangerous and the fact that he's not alone having these ideas is the real problem I think."

©AFP/Pool / Erlend Aas

Two policemen and a bomb sniffer dog patrol outside the courthouse in Oslo

Tuesday's proceedings were delayed for around 30 minutes after it emerged one of the five judges had posted a message on a website the day after the killings suggesting Breivik should be sentenced to death.
"The death penalty is the only fair outcome in this case!!!!," Thomas Indreboe, one of the two lay judges on the panel, wrote on July 23 last year.
Following a submission from both the defence and prosecution teams, Indreboe was deemed unfit and replaced by one of two substitute judges, Anne Elisabeth Wisloeff, already present in court.
"The lay judge himself has acknowledged that he made these comments on July 23," Arntzen told the court.
The death penalty does not exist in Norway.
If he is found sane, Breivik risks a 21-year jail term, which could then be extended indefinitely if he is still considered a threat to society. If he is found insane he could be sentenced to closed psychiatric care, possibly for life.
Two psychiatric evaluations have drawn contradictory conclusions on his sanity, and ultimately it will be up to the judges to rule on them when they hand down the verdict sometime in mid-July.
Breivik has entered a plea of "not guilty," saying his acts were "cruel but necessary."
Copy : http://www.afp.com/afpcom/