Norway grieving after Anders Behring Breivik accused of murdering 93 people

AT least 93 people have been killed in two terror attacks in Norway - a bomb attack in Oslo and a mass shooting at a youth camp nearby. Refresh this page for live updates. Gunman dressed as police officer opens fire at youth camp

4.22pm Anders Behring Breivik said he had hoped to kill former prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, a news report said.

He said under police questioning that he had intended to shoot the former PM (pictured below) during her presentation on the island earlier in the afternoon but he was delayed, a report in Norwegian language newspaper Aftenposten said, citing police sources.

3.45pm Greens leader Bob Brown has called for a ban on semi-automatic handguns in the wake of the Norwegian massacre, saying weapons of the type reportedly used would not necessarily be banned in Australia.

We Greens have repeatedly called for these to be made illegal. There are limited potential uses of them, but very, very few beyond that of the police forces.

2.40pm
Ruby's lucky day

2.06pm Norway shooter Breivik asks - and answers - his own questions | Via TIME on Twitter: http://ti.me/oXlu3R

1.46pm The savage, blood-soaked massacre in Norway might seem like the act of a deranged madman. But the perpetrator, Anders Behring Breivik, was nothing of the sort, writes David Wilson in The Punch.

1.32pm Self-confessed Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik was nearly caught preparing bombs for his massacre just last month - and was ready to murder the unsuspecting woman who was about to discover his deadly secret, according to excerpts of his manifesto reported today.

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"2083: A European Declaration of Independence", a 1500-page manifesto attributed to Breivik, was posted online several hours before the attacks (see video above); in the document, which was reportedly written over the course of nine years, Breivik 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 organising "Plan B" in 2009.

1pm A New Zealand teenage girl, who has dual New Zealand and Norwegian citizenship, was believed to be on the island at the time of the shooting and remains missing. The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade told Agence-France Presse today the New Zealand embassy was in direct contact with the teen's family but she had so far not been traced. Names and photographs of the victims were due to be released today, with the list expected to include offspring of senior ruling party figures. Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has called for a minute's silence to be held across the nation at noon today (local time, 8pm AEST).

12.32pm Norway's King Harald and Queen Sonja, as well as several members of the Government participated in the service at the Oslo Cathedral, according to The Norway Post.

11.42am The Arab world was outraged by local and international media allegations before Breivik's arrest that alluded to an extremist Islamists link for the double attack on Oslo and Utoya island.

Norway service

Friends and loved ones gather at the Oslo cathedral saying prayers and lighting candles to mourn 93 victims killed in twin terror attacks from a bombing in downtown Oslo and a mass shooting on Utoya island. Picture: Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

11.18am A UK police officer has gone to Norway to help the inquiry into the country's terror attacks, Scotland Yard tells the BBC. Foreign Secretary William Hague said the UK National Security Council would meet today to discuss the attacks.

11.12am Breivik has apparently told police that he had acted alone but in his online manifesto he claimed to be a founder member of a revived "Knights Templar” crusader movement with cells across Europe. The manifesto - entitled 2083: A European Declaration of Independence - describes the planned takeover of Western Europe by "indigenous Europeans".

"A large successful attack every 5-12 years was optimal depending on available forces,” he wrote.

Hiring a prostitute was part of his preparation for Friday’s atrocity. "I will probably arrange that just before or after I attend my final martyrs mass in Frogner Church,” he wrote. "It will contribute to ease my mind as I imagine I will be tense and very nervous. It is easier to face death if you know you are biologically, mentally and spiritually at ease.”
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