Norway Holds First Funerals For Terrorist Victims After Massacre in Oslo and on Utoeya Island

Norway Remembers Victims, One Week After Massacre

The first funerals for victims of the massacres in Norway were held on Friday. It was a week after 77 people were killed in Oslo and on Utoeya Island, where a youth camp for young Labour party activists was taking place.

Norwegian politicians attended a memorial service in Oslo, held by the Labour Party to honour its dead young activists. The Prime Minster, Jens Stoltenberg, who attended with most of his cabinet, was there to pay tribute to the victims, and condemn what he called "an attack on democracy".

He said, "'The bullets hit our young, but they also struck an entire nation. We have to live with July 22, but together we will make it.'

The stage was covered with red roses, the symbol of the Labour Party. Mr Stoltenberg is due to visit a mosque to stress national unity later on in the day.

Police today amended the death toll from the massacres from 76 to 77. The first funerals are those of Bano Rashid, 18, who was buried near Oslo, and of Ismail Haji Ahmed, 19, in the south-western town of Hamar. Both victims were shot dead on Utoeya Island.

Norway's head of police confirmed that all the bodies have now been identified and the missing have been accounted for. Most of the victims were teenagers. The youngest of those named so far was a 14 year-old boy, Johannes Buoe.

The last body to be uncovered was of Tamta Lipartellani, a Georgian student. Her parents had travelled to Norway hoping their daughter might still be alive, but her body was discovered in the lake, with bullet wounds in her back.

Meanwhile, Anders Behring Breivik, who says he carried out both the Oslo bombing and the Utoeya shooting, is being questioned by police for the second time, though it has not been specified what the line of questioning will be. In the first round of questioning, Breivik described his motive as an attempt to stop the Islamisation of western Europe. He blames the Norwegian government for allowing it to happen.

The Friday hearing was closed, just as the hearing on Monday was not accessible to the public. After Monday's hearing, the judge reported that Breivik had alleged he had two support cells working with him.

Breivik admitted carrying out the attacks, but has pleaded not guilty to terror charges. Investigators believe the 32-year-old acted alone, having planned the attack for years. Breivik claimed that he is part of an anti-Muslim network plotting a series of attacks, but so far the police have not found evidence to support his claim.

Nick Lowles, from anti-fascist organisation Searchlight commented: "In the modern internet age people are less likely to join organisations but instead flit between groups, causes and campaigns with a much looser affiliation. This is what Breivik appears to have done. It is clear he read, digested and disseminated information on a wide range of neo-Nazi, nationalist and anti-Muslim forums.

On the 1st November, two psychiatrists will report to prosecutors their findings on Breivik's mental health. However, Norway's chief prosecutor does not expect the indictment to be ready before the end of the year.

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