The attacks, which added up to the largest in Norway since World War II, stunned a country better known for the Nobel Peace Prize than for violence and seemed sure to force a cultural shift in an open society in which government buildings are lightly protected. A 32-year-old Norwegian man was arrested in the shooting and “is suspected of having some right-wing sympathies,” said Police Directorate spokesman Runar Kvernen. “The police are now working with the theory that he is involved in both of the tragedies today. He was observed, the same person, the same outfit, at both scenes.”
“Whether he had helpers, that we don’t know,” he said. “He is the main track for the police right now.”
Norway’s national broadcaster NRK named the suspect in the attacks as Anders Behring Breivik. NRK and other news outlets in the country also posted pictures of the blond and blue-eyed Norwegian.
The blast struck around 3:30 p.m. local time near the 17-story building that holds the prime minister’s office — he was not there at the time — blowing out almost every window and setting off a billowing fire at the nearby oil ministry.
Two hours later, a man dressed in a police uniform opened fire on Utoya Island, 25 miles northwest of the capital, where the ruling Labor Party was holding an annual conference for young people, police said.
“Ambulances and helicopters are flying nonstop,” Kvernen said. “The losses are quite huge.”
Police initially reported the death toll on the island at 10, but early Saturday they said they had discovered many more victims. Hundreds of youths were attending the conference, which had been organized by the youth wing of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg’s Labor Party.
Stoltenberg was rushed to a secret location in the aftermath of the blast but spoke to reporters late Friday.
“I have a message to whoever attacked us. It’s a message from all of Norway,” he said. “You will not destroy us. You will not destroy our democracy.”
But many residents of Oslo said the attacks would probably have a deep impact. For years, the most fortified building in town has been the U.S. Embassy — the subject of eye-rolling from those who thought the security measures were unnecessary.
“This is one of those events that will change everything,” Christopher Wright, 35, of Oslo said by telephone. He was at a bakery a thousand feet from the government buildings when the explosion happened.
Several analysts said a coordinated attack of such a caliber would have required sophistication and preparation.
Chatter on online jihadist forums praising the attacks started almost immediately afterward, terrorism analysts said, but claims of responsibility were soon retracted.
The blast
It was not immediately clear what kind of explosives were used in the bombing or where they had been placed, but a charred, damaged vehicle stood on its side near the blast site. Huge clouds of smoke streamed out of the oil ministry building for much of the afternoon, and television stations broadcast images of crowds of office workers running through the streets, with documents and broken glass littering the ground. Norwegian television broadcast images of people swimming away from the island and of bodies lying on the shore. The small island is a third of a mile from shore, with no bridge to connect it to the mainland.
The Norwegian news agency NTB said former prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland had been present at the conference Friday and that Stoltenberg had been scheduled to speak there Saturday. Norway saw an increased level of far-right extremism in 2010, a trend that is expected to continue this year, according to a Norwegian Police Security Service Annual Threat Assessment. The report also said that “there are indications of contact” between far-right Norwegian extremists and organized criminal groups, which could increase their potential for violence.
Past threats
There have been threats against Norway in the past, but analysts have long seen it as at less risk than other Scandinavian countries. The most recent attack in the region was in Sweden in December, when explosions hit Stockholm; in one of the blasts, a suspected bomber killed himself and injured two other people in a central area of the city. The suspect had made recordings condemning Sweden’s involvement in Afghanistan.
Norway has also contributed to Afghanistan, and it has taken a major role in the NATO-led effort to protect civilians in Libya, sending several F-16 jets that had been carrying out 10 percent of the strikes on the country since March, according to the Norwegian air force. The aircraft are scheduled to return home at the end of the month.
This month, Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi threatened Europe with suicide bombings as revenge for the NATO campaign.
Norway had also filed charges last week against an Iraqi-born cleric, Mullah Krekar, a founder of the Kurdish militant group Ansar al-Islam, for allegedly threatening Norwegian officials with death if he was deported.
The U.S. ambassador to Norway, Barry White, said in a telephone interview that the United States has offered to assist the Norwegian government.
“It’s a tragedy,” he said. “One of the things this demonstrates is there’s no place that is safe from a potential incident of this nature. Norway is considered a fairly safe place, and it is, but this demonstrates that things can happen anywhere.”
In Washington, President Obama expressed his condolences to Norway and offered U.S. support as Norwegian authorities investigate the incidents, which he described as terrorist attacks.
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