A right-wing Belgian MP has told the Guardian that Norwegian gunman Anders Breivik emailed his 1,500 page manifesto to over 1,000 email addresses less than 90 minutes before he began his attack last Friday. A link to a Youtube video showing him holding a gun was also allegedly included.
Tanguy Veys MP, who belongs to the Vlaams Belang party, was one of the individuals who received Breivik's manifesto via email. He denies being in contact with the killer, adding that "it is very strange and I am cross I have been associated with him in any way".
Veys claimed that around a quarter of those on the email list were UK-based.
"I think the UK was the biggest group [of recipients]," he told the Guardian on Tuesday night. "There were people from Italy, France Germany … but the UK was the biggest number."
The Daily Telegraph also reported that Scotland Yard’s domestic extremism unit, which is investigating Breivik’s British links, has been sent a list of the UK-based email addresses found within the 1,003 recipients of his document. Anti-fascist campaigners have claimed that Breikvik may have been in contact with British activists from the far-right English Defence League (EDL) in the months leading up to his attack.
In his manifesto Breivik claimed that he had been posting on EDL forums under the pseudonym “Sigurd (the Crusader)” after Sigurd Jorsalfare, a 12th century Norwegian king who led one of the Crusades. The anti-fascist magazine Searchlight has released a series of messages it claims to have come from the user alleged to have been Breikvik, although this has not been confirmed.
In one posting, on March 9, the author appears to have called on right-wing activists in the UK to "keep up the good work". The message said:
"Hello. To you all good English men and women, just wanted to say that you're a blessing to all in Europe, in these dark times all of Europe are looking to you in such [sic] of inspiration, courage and even hope that we might turn this evil trend with islamisation all across our continent. Well, just wanted to say keep up the good work it's good to see others that care about their country and heritage. All the best to you all. Sigurd."
The EDL denies any links to Breivik, saying that it was it was "not aware of any contact between Breivik and EDL leadership … of anyone using the name Sigurd and the forum". However, EDL supporters have been reported to have posted messages online saying they met Breivik at rallies in Britain, and Breivik claimed to have 600 EDL members among his Facebook friends.