Doubt cast on Norway gunman's claim of more cells

Breivik said collaborators were in 'Knights Templar' group that aimed to 'save' Europe

OSLO — Norwegian police think Anders Behring Breivik is probably a lone wolf, a view also held by some researchers who cast doubt on his claim that he was working with two other cells.

Breivik, who admitted to carrying out a bomb attack and shooting spree last Friday that killed 76 people, told a court on Monday that two cells of collaborators were in his "Knights Templar" group that aimed to "save" Europe from Muslims.

Police attorney Christian Hatlo told reporters on Monday he "cannot completely, and I stress completely, rule out that others were involved in what happened."

But police say privately that they think more cells are unlikely although security services are checking with their international partners about potential foreign links.

"We feel that the accused has fairly low credibility when it comes to this claim but none of us dare to be completely dismissive about it either," a source close to the investigation told Reuters.

Police are checking Breivik's phone and credit card records as well as his known movements to determine whether he was working alone.

Magnus Ranstorp, Research Director at the Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defense College, said that, as far as he knows, nobody had evidence of the existence of the Knights Templar organization.

"There's no one who seems to know if the group exist or if it's something he made up," he told Reuters. "They (mass killers) are usually alone. He's extremely narcissistic and he goes on about himself and his role in history."

Ragnhild Bjoernebekk, a researcher at Norway's police school who specializes in crime and violence, said it was not inconceivable that Breivik was part of a network, but added:

"The fact he wants to talk about it is surprising. Perhaps he wants to suggest that he is part of something bigger than himself," she said.

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Further undermining his claim, Breivik's manifesto published before his shooting rampage suggested authorities should be disinformed about collaborators.

"Give the impression that your cell is larger by attempting to forward misinformation on the police band or by other means," he said in the 1,500 page document.

In the rambling manifesto, which mixes imagery of medieval crusades and Internet war games, Breivik calls himself a "Justiciar Knight Commander of Cell 8" and said he would try to "initiate contact with cell 8b and 8c."

The document says that each cell commander has up to two operatives.

"Intuitively, it feels like he is alone when you read the document. It's like he's lost in this made up world and can't distinguish between fantasy and reality," said Ranstorp.

'Essential' for 'normal life' to continue Earlier Monday, Norway police lowered the number of deaths in Friday's bombing in Oslo and mass shooting at a youth camp to 76, down nearly 20 from previously reported numbers, citing difficulties in gathering information at Utoya island where the shooting spree occurred.

There were 68 killed at the camp site run by the Labor Party, significantly lower than the 86 previously reported, and eight killed in the bombings, an increase of one, police said.

"We had to prioritize the survivors and make the area safe and we came out with a too high number of dead," police spokesman Oystein Maeland said at a press conference on Monday afternoon. "The main thing for us was to convey the information that the number [of dead] was much higher than the 10 we had reported earlier."

"Now it's essential that normal life continues," said another police spokesman.

Police also responded to criticism that their response time was too slow, saying that they "only have one helicopter with limited air time, it’s not a tool we can use all the time and it wouldn't have made any difference to these events," a spokesman said. "A better response time than that cannot be expected."

It took police a full hour to get a team of elite forces to the island. Norwegian television chartered a helicopter and filmed the killer before the police showed up. When the armed team did arrive, Breivik gave himself up without a fight. 

Thousands rally in Oslo The prosecutor said Monday that Breivik appeared "unaffected" by his actions and was prepared to spend the rest of his life in prison. Breivik had said through his lawyer that he wanted to explain his motives at the hearing, but a judge ruled that the hearing would be closed to the public and press.

After the hearing, the judge said he had ordered Breivik detained in solitary confinement for eight weeks, with no letters, newspapers or visits, except from a lawyer. The detention, in line with a request from prosecutors, will allow them to investigate the case against Breivik.

Also on Monday, at least 100,000 people rallied in Oslo and tens of thousands more marched in cities across Norway in a nationwide expression of grief and unity over the massacre of 76 people by Anders Behring Breivik.

Stoltenberg addressed the evening crowd, many of them holding up red and white roses for remembrance, his voice trembling with emotion: "By taking part you are saying a resounding 'yes' to democracy." He called the Rose March a "march for democracy, a march for tolerance, a march for unity."

"Evil can kill a person but never conquer a people."

In a country of 4.8 million, where a single murder makes front-page news, the solidarity rally was probably the biggest since World War II.

"We are a small society and I think that makes everyone feel affected whether directly involved or not," said Jonas Waerstad, 26, who was one of the marchers.

Earlier in the day, a handful of enraged protesters awaited Breivik at Oslo District Court. 

"Get out, get out!" shouted Alexander Roeine, 24, banging on a car he wrongly believed contained the mass killer. In fact police brought Breivik into the courthouse via a side entrance.

"Everyone here wants him dead," Roeine said, adding that he knew one of the dead and three survivors of the attacks.

Breivik's name had appeared, via Interpol, on a list of 50-60 Norwegians after he paid 120 Norwegian crowns ($22.16) to a Polish company that was under surveillance because of its sale of chemicals, Norway's NRK television said.

Breivik leased a farm and bought fertilizers.

"We get masses of information about very many people," PST security police chief Janne Kristiansen told NRK. She said PST checked names on the list against PST watch lists but that "we had absolutely nothing on Behring Breivik" and it was dropped.

She said his Internet and Facebook profiles looked moderate although he took part in some extremist chat rooms.

Story: Norway attacks shine light on right-wing extremism in Europe

The maximum jail term in Norway is 21 years, although that can be extended if there is a risk of repeat offenses.

The 32-year-old, who portrays himself as crusader against a tide of Islam in a rambling 1,500-page online manifesto, says he wants to explain acts he deemed "atrocious" but "necessary".

To prepare for the attack, Breivik wrote that he wanted to hire prostitutes and drink expensive French wine.

"My thought was to save the last flask for my last martyrdom celebration and enjoy it with the two high-class model whores I intend to rent prior to the mission," he wrote.

He also wanted to spend time in a solarium "to look fresher" before the attack.

Meanwhile, in France police searched Breivik's father's house, Britain's Press Association reported. Breivik and his father, a former Norwegian diplomat who is said to be devastated by the news of his son's involvement, haven't spoken in many years, according to media reports.

According to British newspaper the Telegraph, Breivik's father's told Norwegian TV he'll never return to the country because of his son's actions. He reportedly told Swedish newspaper Expressen that his son "should have taken his own life rather than kill so many people."

Breivik had asked to wear a uniform in court, but was denied the request by the judge. His lawyer, Geir Lippestad, said he did not know what type of uniform he wanted to don. Breivik has not served in the armed forces but in some of the pictures he posted on the Internet before his killing spree he was dressed in a military-style outfit. The killer was dressed as a policeman during his shooting spree.

Lippestad said his client had admitted to Friday's attacks but that he denies any criminal guilt.

"He has been politically active and found out himself that he did not succeed with usual political tools and so resorted to violence," Lippestad told TV2 news. "I await a medical assessment of him," he said.

The worst peacetime massacre in the normally placid country's modern history appears to have been driven by Breivik's mission to save Europe from what he sees as the threats of Islam, immigration and multiculturalism.

 Members of the public stand outside the court house as Anders Behring Breivik appeared in a closed court on Monday.

That he surrendered to police when finally confronted on the tiny island of Utoya after shooting dead 68youngsters underlines his desire to secure a public platform.

Norway mourns 
Crowds packed Oslo cathedral square for a minute of silence at midday on Monday that swelled into five. The only sounds were the beeping of traffic crossings, the crying of seagulls and a dog barking.

"This is a tragic event to see all these young people dying due to one man's craziness," Sven-Erik Fredheim, 36, a mechanic, told Reuters near the cathedral square where people piled more flowers onto a carpet of bouquets already laid there for the dead since Friday's violence shocked a normally quiet country of 4.8 million.

 Video: Oslo suspect wanted to trigger ‘anti-Muslim’ revolution (on this page)

"It is important to have this minute of silence so that all the victims and the parents of the families know that people are thinking about them."

Norwegian newspapers focused on the victims as shock turns to mourning, giving chilling new accounts of the island massacre and focusing on acts of bravery which saved lives.

The main broadsheet Aftenposten led with "Sorrow unites Norway" and printed a picture of a central Oslo square filled with flowers and lit candles in remembrance of the dead.

Daily Dagsavisen asked "Why didn't you come earlier?" citing screams by youth as police arrived on Utoya island on Friday — an hour after they were notified of the shooting.

Survivors offered harrowing accounts of the shooting. Ingvild Stensrud, 16, hid in a house on the island with friends only to find the shooter in their midst.

 Video: Girl pretended to be dead, survived Norway attack (on this page)

"No one understand what was happening," she told TODAY, explaining how she survived by hiding under the body of a girl who was shot. Only three out of the 10 people in the room survived, she said.

"Its horrible my friends were killed and I was shot because I believe in a multicultural Norway," she said.

Immigration debate 
Breivik's lawyer has said that his client feels he did not deserve punishment.

"He explains himself fairly calmly, but every now and then expresses emotion," Lippestad said of Breivik. "He buries his head in his hands."

"He has said that he believed the actions were atrocious, but that in his head they were necessary."

Police believe Breivik acted alone after losing faith in mainstream parties, even those that have gained popularity and parliamentary seats on anti-immigration policies in otherwise liberal, tolerant European nations, including affluent Norway.

The attack was likely to tone down the immigration debate ahead of September local elections, analysts said, as parties try to distance themselves from Breivik's beliefs and reinforce Norwegians' self-image as an open, peaceful people.

Norway's immigrant numbers nearly tripled between 1995 and 2010 to almost half a million in a population of 4.8 million.

Story: In rural town, Norway attacker seemed a city loner

The sense that many were drawn by Norway's generous welfare handouts helped spur the growth of the Progress Party which became Norway's second biggest in parliament after the 2009 election on a largely anti-immigration platform.

Breivik was once a member of the party, but left complaining it was too politically correct. It was then he began scheming to "resist", burying ammunition more than a year ago, weight-lifting, storing up credit cards and researching bomb-making while playing online war games.

Exploding bullets 
After three months of laboriously pounding and mixing fertilizer, aspirin and other chemicals on a remote farm, Breivik drove a hire car packed with the results to the center of Oslo on Friday, triggering the device outside government offices, killing seven and shattering thousands of windows.

He then drove to the small island of Utoya, 28 miles away. Dressed as a policeman, he calmly shot down youngsters at a youth summer camp of the ruling Labour Party. His terrified victims tried to hide under beds or in the woods. Some leapt into the lake and tried to swim to the mainland.

Story: Norway police free detainees, no link to attacks

"This is going to be an all-or-nothing scenario," Breivik wrote in his English-language online journal on the morning of the attack. "First coming costume party this autumn, dress up as a police officer. Arrive with insignias:-) Will be awesome as people will be very astonished:-)."

A surgeon at a hospital that treated 35 of the wounded said Breivik may have used "dum-dum" bullets for maximum damage.

 Slideshow: Norway in mourning after massacre (on this page)

"These bullets don't explode inside the body but fragment into pieces more quickly than other bullets," Colin Poole, chief surgeon of the Ringerike district hospital, told Reuters.