English far-right group spurns killer
OSLO
INTERPOL and Scotland Yard are investigating claims by mass killer Anders Breivik that two other cells of people were working with him on his terrorist anti-Muslim crusade.
Interpol has asked Scotland Yard for more officers as it trawls through its database of known high-risk extremists, after Breivik boasted to police of links to far-right groups in Britain, including the English Defence League.
British Prime Minister David Cameron ordered a review of all far-right groups and said the claims of accomplices were being taken seriously.
Mr Cameron denied there had been complacency about right-wing extremism, pointing out it was mentioned in the government’s official terrorism strategy and in a speech he made in Munich in February.
Breivik, who has admitted killing 76 people in a car bomb and shooting spree last week, claimed in an internet manifesto that he and other activists had met in London to set up a group called the Knights Templar — named after a military order from the time of the Crusades — to fight a perceived Islamic takeover of Europe.
He had also written that he had strong links with the EDL. He claimed he had met its leaders and had members as Facebook friends.
Breivik could face a crime-against-humanity charge, which entails a 30-year prison sentence, Oslo police spokesman Sturla Henriksbo said yesterday. Breivik has been charged with two counts of “acts of terror”, which entail a 21-year sentence.
London’s Daily Telegraph reported an anonymous senior member of the EDL saying he believed Breivik had met the group’s leaders when he visited Britain to hear right-wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders. “He is someone who can project himself very well, and I presume there would be those within the EDL who would be quite taken by that.
“It’s like Hitler; people said he was hypnotic. This guy had the same sort of effect.”
But officially the EDL and other such groups quickly moved to distance themselves from Breivik.
The EDL issued a statement condemning the killings, denying links with Breivik and insisting that it was a peaceful body that rejected extremism.
Breivik’s estranged father Jens, a retired Norwegian diplomat living in France, tried to distance himself, too. “I don’t feel like his father. How could he just stand there and kill so many innocent people and just seem to think that what he did was OK? He should have taken his own life too,” he said.
The death toll was revised down to 76 after police said they believed some bodies had been counted twice.
Police admitted Breivik had come to their attention in March after buying large quantities of fertiliser, an ingredient in bombs. No action was taken because the purchase was legal and he had a farm, giving him a legitimate use for it.
About 100,000 people yesterday joined a procession in central Oslo, carrying flowers to mourn the victims and marching to defy what is being interpreted as an attack on the country’s democratic values.
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said: “By taking part, you are saying a resounding ‘yes’ to democracy.”