Police Officially Name Four Victims Of Norway Attacks

Police Officially Name Four Victims Of Norway Attacks

Police in Norway have officially named four victims who were among the 76 who died in the twin terror attacks of July 22.

The victims named were:

  • Gunnar Linaker, a 23-year-old man from Bardu, killed in Utoya.
  • Tove Ashill Knutsen, a 56-year-old woman from Oslo, killed in the bomb attack in Oslo.
  • Hanna M Orvik Endresen, a 61-year-old woman from Oslo, killed in the bomb attack in Oslo.
  • Kai Hauge, a 32-year-old man from Oslo, killed in the bomb attack in Oslo.

The names were released by police on an official website after they defended their response to the attacks, saying they didn't "think they could have gone faster".

Breivik was arrested two minutes after officers arrived on Utoeya, said police staff chief Johan Fredrikson.

"I don't think this could have gone faster. I don't see how that would be possible with the distance and with these conditions. We always try to be better but I don't see how we could have done this faster."

Police will release more names tomorrow after the families have been notified.

Earlier today, Geir Lippestad, who is acting as the lawyer for the man who has admitted to the killings, Anders Breivik, said he believes his client is insane.

"This whole case indicates that he's insane. He's in a war and he says that the rest of the world, particularly ther Western world don't understand his point of view but in 60 years time we all will understand it," Geir Lippestad told reporters on Tuesday.

"He looks upon himself as a warrior. And he started this war, and takes some kind of pride in that."

He said Breivik was not aware of the death toll from Friday's bombing in Oslo and massacre on the island of Utoya, which left 76 people dead.

Lippestad said it was too early to tell whether his client would enter a plea of insanity, but told the media that Breivik took drugs to be "strong, efficient, awake".

He added that his client was a "very cold" person, who claimed he was part of an anti-Islam network.

"He talks about two cells in Norway, but several cells abroad," Lippestad said.

Breivik has confessed to carrying out the twin attacks but pleaded not guilty to charges of terrorism when he appeared in an Oslo court on Monday.

He told the hearing that he had two other cells in his "organisation". Police are investigating his claim, which contradicts an earlier one in which he said he acted alone.

British police are also working to uncover the extent of Breivik's ties to right-wing extremists in the UK.

He is understood to have met leaders of the far-right English Defence League in March last year when he came to London for the visit of Geert Wilders, the Dutch Right-wing politician.

A senior member of the group, Daryl Hobson, said Breivik had met members of the group, the Daily Telegraph reported.

The paper said another senior member of the EDL said Breivik had been in regular contact with its members via Facebook, and had a "hypnotic" effect on them.

Norwegian police are reportedly considering charging the gunman with crimes against humanity, which carry a possible 30-year sentence, instead of what could otherwise be a maximum 21-year-prison term.

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