Profile: Who is Anders Behrin Breivik?

A 32-year-old Norwegian, described by police as a Christian fundamentalist, has admitted to having orchestrated a deadly explosion in the downtown area of the capital Oslo before killing at least 85 people in a shooting on nearby Utoeya island.
Norwegian media has been flooded by images of a tall young man, with mid-length blonde hair and bright blue eyes since early Saturday. They are pictures of Anders Behrin Breivik, who has been identified by local media as the number one suspect in Fridays deadly attacks in Norways capital Oslo and its neighbouring Utoeya island, which left a total of at least 92 dead. Police arrested the 32-year-old ethnic Norwegian on Friday in connection with the two attacks. Although the police at first refused to confirm his identity, Breiviks lawyer, Geir Lippestad, revealed on Sunday that his client had admitted responsibility for the cruel but necessary acts. Norways acting Police Chief Sveinung Sponheim later said that the suspect claimed to have acted alone. Fundamentalist Christian In the wake of the tragedy, the Norwegian television station TV2 reported that Breivik had close ties to right-wing extremists and possessed several guns registered under his name. Meanwhile, Sponheim said the suspect had certain anti-Muslim tendencies, in an interview with the state-owned broadcasting company, NRK, before saying that it is too early to say if this was a motive for the act. Another police official, Roger Andresen, described the suspect as fundamentalist Christian.

Police performed an overnight search of the suspects long-time former residence in western Oslo, as well as his new home near Rena, in the north of the capital.

Aside from public tax records, which show that Breivik earned no income in 2009 and close to nothing in the years before, very little was known at first about the alleged perpetrator of the worst violence to hit Norway since World War II.

Europe's resurgent far right focuses on immigration, multiculturalism

POLITICAL PARTIES
July 24, 2011|By Tim Lister, CNN

The far right in Europe has enjoyed a renaissance over the past 30 years, driven by resentment of the growing powers of the European Union and by rejection of the "multiculturalism" that has accompanied rapid immigration from the developing world. Political parties opposing immigration and integration have done well in elections in recent years -- and beyond them, neo-fascist and "national socialist" groups have become wellestablished across the continent, including in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Scandinavia, Hungary and the United Kingdom. Most of those belonging to such groups would not contemplate the sort of carnage that occurred in Norway on Friday, but they would probably sympathize with what appears to have been the manifesto of the alleged assailant, Anders Behring Breivik. Breivik claimed that "cultural Marxism" had morally degraded Europe, and purportedly wrote: "You cannot defeat Islamisation or halt/reverse the Islamic colonization of Western Europe without first removing the political doctrines manifested through multiculturalism/cultural Marxism." Elsewhere he said: "One of the most widespread manifestations of the craziness of our world is multiculturalism." There are plenty of white supremacists who subscribe to such views on websites like stormfront.org, whose motto is "White Pride Worldwide." On the site's discussion forums, one thread entitled "Scandinavia Struggles Against Multiculturalism" warns that "a united Europe could become a strong wall against Islamic 'cultural' invasion, but instead Europe has become a gateway for Islam." The thread, which has been active for several years, contains reports of alleged rapes by immigrants, warns about the low birth rate of nativeborn Scandinavians and links to videos of far-right protests. Another thread is titled: "Please Nordic people, keep white Scandinavia." And the day before Friday's attack, one forum participant wrote: "Norway must wake up and deport non-whites." In his own writings, the alleged Norwegian bomber appears to have complained about the "Muslim ghettofication process'" in Oslo -- a term also used by the far right in Denmark.