Judge: Norway terror suspect is not insane

There is no reason to believe that Norway mass murder suspect Anders Behring Breivik is insane, District Court Judge Torkjel Nesheim said Monday.

There is also no evidence he had accomplices in the bomb and gun rampage in which he is accused of killing 77 people this summer, the judge said. The judge ordered him held in custody for a further 12 weeks, with visits and correspondence controlled by the authorities for the first eight, and a ban on media for the first four.

More than 500 people packed into a court in Oslo, Norway, to see the suspect's first public appearance, said Irene Ramm, head of press for the Oslo court. A woman whose daughter was killed in the massacre said she could not understand "how a human being could do something like that."

"That's why I had to be here today. I don't understand, so I had to see, had to be here," said the woman, who was identified only as "Carina" on Norway's TV2. "He looked cold, completely cold," she said.

He was not allowed to deliver a speech he had prepared, the station reported. Breivik said he did not recognize the authority of the court on the grounds that he opposes the multi-cultural society it is part of, TV2 said. He was stopped on several occasions when he started referring to himself as Commander of the Knights Templar, a title he used in his 1,500-page manifesto, the station reported.

"I interrupted Breivik during today's hearing because I only wanted to hear him about matters relating to today's hearing," Judge Nesheim said. "This was not the main trial where he gets to explain himself. I did not want to give him the opportunity to use this hearing as a platform for him to express his views."

Until now, the proceedings for Breivik have been held behind closed doors. The hearing was to determine whether to keep Breivik in jail until his trial in the spring. Prosecutors expect it to begin in March or April, the judge said.

Survivors return to scene of island rampage

He is accused of killing dozens of people in a bomb attack in Oslo followed by a shooting rampage on nearby Utoya island. Eight people were killed in a bombing in Oslo; 69 young people were killed on Utoya island, in the deadliest attack in Norway since World War II. The young people were attending a Labour Party youth camp. Most of the 700 campers ranged in age from 16-22, with some as young as 13.

Breivik has pleaded not guilty but admits carrying out the attacks, the judge said.

"The accused is still suspected on probable cause of criminal acts, as described in the charges. He has admitted the bombing in central Oslo and also the shooting on Utoya. The investigation has also confirmed this," Nesheim said.

He is described by authorities as a right-wing Christian extremist. The 1,500-page manifesto attributed to Breivik was posted on the Internet and is critical of Muslim immigration and European liberalism.

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Ban London march by far-Right extremists linked to killer, say MPs

The Government was today urged to ban a far-Right demonstration by the group praised by Norwegian killer Anders Breivik.

The English Defence League is planning an anti-Islam protest in September in Tower Hamlets.

The Standard yesterday revealed links between the EDL and Breivik, who was in contact with members of the group in the days before Friday's bombing and shooting spree in which 76 people were killed. Breivik was told he would be welcome at the EDL's protests and replied: "You're a blessing to all in Europe".

EDL march organisers have released an online message to members calling on them to take "our message into the heart of militant Islam within our own country".

The message continues: "The last two years of demonstrations could arguably have been dress rehearsals for this one. We will go where we want, when we want." MPs and activists today called on the Government to investigate the EDL's links to violent extremism.

Poplar and Limehouse MP Jim Fitzpatrick said: "Any thinking person is going to be worried that someone like Breivik has been in touch with the EDL. The march will affect public order. It's better if the EDL didn't come to the East End. They should keep out."

Nick Lowles, of anti-fascist organisation Searchlight, said: "It is inconceivable after the events of the weekend and the evidence of links between Breivik and the EDL that the planned march through Tower Hamlets can proceed… We call on the Home Office to ban this provocative demonstration."

A Met spokeswoman said they were aware the EDL planned to stage a national march on 3 September and another in Waltham Forest on 30 July. She said that "appropriate and proportionate policing plans will be in place" and there were no plans to ask for the event to be banned.

A millionaire computer engineer who has admitted funding the EDL today appeared to confirm the existence of the Knights Templar group described by Breivik in the manifesto he emailed to contacts shortly before the killings. Breivik claimed to have attended a meeting of the Knights Templar in London in April 2002. In a posting on his forum Alan Lake, 45, distanced himself from Breivik but says there were "attempts" to involve him in the Knights Templar, which he resisted.
London Evening Standard