Friday shooting trial start monday

Calling himself a crusader against a tide of Islam in a rambling 1,500-page online manifesto, the 32-year-old mass murderer wants the opportunity to explain actions he deemed "atrocious, but necessary".

Lawyer Geir Lippestad said his client had admitted to Friday's shootings at a Labor youth camp and a bomb that killed seven people in Oslo's government district, 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.

That Breivik deliberately surrendered to police when finally confronted on the tiny island of Utoeya after cold bloodily gunning down 86 youngsters underlines his desire to grab a public platform to deliver his radical thoughts.

In other instances of gunmen going on killing sprees the perpetrators often commit suicide when the police arrive or actively provoke officers to shoot them dead.

It was not clear how long Breivik will have to talk in court since the hearing will be about custody and he will not be required to enter a guilty or innocent plea.

Friday's shooting spree lasted for around 90 minutes before Breivik surrendered to police, who immediately arrested him. Police said on Sunday that Breivik had ammunition left over.

"Breivik is being held at Oslo's police headquarters," Al Jazeera's Harry Smith, reporting from Norway's capital, said. "On Monday, he will be transferred across town for an appearance at the city's criminal court."

"His lawyer has said on that occasion [Breivik] will explain fully what he's done, and more importantly, why he did it."

Witnesses described scenes of horror among the more than 500 people attending the youth camp. Some who tried to swim to safety were even shot in the water.

The chief surgeon at a hospital treating victims of Norway's camp massacre says the killer used special bullets designed to disintegrate inside the body and cause maximum internal damage.

And ballistics experts say so-called dum-dum bullets also are lighter in weight, can be fired with greater accuracy over varying distances and are commonly are used by air marshals and hunters of small animals.

Sveinung Sponheim, the acting police commissioner, said that all the dead had now been removed from the island and "taken to the coroner's morgue where the autopsies will be carried out".

During weekend interrogation, Breivik told police that his attacks were "cruel" but "necessary".

While he "admitted responsibility", police said, his lawyer Geir Lippestad said he was not accepting "criminal responsibility", and that his client felt he had done "nothing reprehensible".

The attacks have caused outrage in Norway amid calls for the reinstatement of the death penalty, given the maximum prison sentence the perpetrator can face is 21 years' imprisonment.

Police have not ruled out the involvement of a second gunman, and on Sunday they detained several people in a swoop on an Oslo property thought to be connected to the attacks. They were released shortly afterwards and no explosives were found.

Accused Norway shooter to appear in court Monday

The man blamed for Friday's twin terror attacks in Norway is due to make his first appearance in court.

Anders Behring Breivik, 32, admits carrying out a massacre on an island youth camp and a bombing in the capital Oslo in which at least 93 people died.

Norwegian police prosecutor Viola Bjelland, who spoke to the BBC from the Oslo police station where Anders Breivik is detained, said he had been co-operative during questioning.

Breivik's lawyer, Geir Lippestad, said his client has confessed to both attacks but has denied criminal responsibility. Lippestad said his client wants the proceedings to be open when he appears in court "because he wants to explain himself."

CTV's Omar Sachedina, reporting from Norway, said Sunday night Breivik is expected to plead not guilty despite admitting to his involvement in the attacks. If convicted, he could spend up to 21 years in jail. Norway does not execute convicted criminals, and its justice system does not have a life sentence, Sachedina said.

Meanwhile, doctors on Sunday said the shooter may have used special bullets that explode inside the body during the shooting rampage at an island retreat.

The chief surgeon treating many of the shooting victims said it is his belief that the shooter used bullets that explode inside victims and cause massive internal injuries.

Dr. Colin Poole of Ringriket Hospital in Honefoss, northwest of Oslo, said surgeons who have treated a total of 16 victims have failed to recover bullets.

"These bullets more or less exploded inside the body," Poole told The Associated Press. "It's caused us all kinds of extra problems in dealing with the wounds they cause, with very strange trajectories."

The bullets are lighter and can be fired over longer distances with better accuracy, according to ballistics experts quoted by AP. Hunters of smaller animals, as well as air marshals, most commonly use the bullets.

Police have not released the identities of any of the victims. Investigators, however, did reveal on Sunday that one of the first victims in the island shooting was an off-duty police officer who was hired by the camp directors to provide private security.

Police also said there are still people unaccounted for at both the shooting site and the government building that was bombed. Officials were at both sites Sunday searching for more victims.

Investigators said the massacre could have been far worse, as the shooter still had "a considerable amount" of ammunition for both guns he was carrying when he surrendered.

Both police and Lippestad revealed Sunday that Breivik had published a 1,500-page manifesto online that decries Muslim immigration to Europe. He also said "indigenous Europeans" who have accepted Muslims into society would be punished for the "treasonous acts."

"He wanted a change in society and, from his perspective, he needed to force through a revolution," Lippestad told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK. "He wished to attack society and the structure of society."

Police said they are analyzing the document, and continue to investigate the theory that, despite Breivik's claims he acted alone, a second shooter was involved in the attack on the island.

On a busy day for investigators, police also carried out raids in what appeared to be a residential neighbourhood in eastern Oslo on Sunday.

Police spokesperson Henning Holtaas said police did not find any weapons or explosives, and did not make any arrests.

As investigators continued probing the tragedy, mourners packed Oslo Cathedral to honour its victims.

Norway's King Harald V and Queen Sonja, as well as Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, joined the mourners, many of whom spilled out into the streets and solemnly stood under a steady rain.

"Many of us knew someone who died," Stoltenberg told mourners. "It's a national tragedy."

The service, which had a "sorrow and hope" theme, left both the king and queen in tears while mourners held each other and wept in the streets long after it was over.

After the service, the royal couple surveyed the damage at the bombing site, and visited victims at Ringriket Hospital.