Norway carnage suspect remanded as death toll drops

The death toll could rise further as the search continues for missing persons Norwegian police today lowered the overall death toll from twin bombing and shooting attacks from 93 to 76, as suspect Anders Behring Breivik, 32, was remanded in custody for eight weeks. The Oslo court also ruled in the closed door hearing that Behring Breivik be held in solitary confinement for the first four weeks, with a ban on all communication with the outside world after the gunman claimed to have an active network of accomplices. Police have faced loud criticism over the hour it took them to reach the island, during which victims -- some shot again in the head to make sure they were dead, according to witnesses -- died at a rate of more than one per minute. The recent attacks have triggered calls for Norway to reinstate the death penalty. The maximum prison sentence in Norway is 21 years, meaning -- if found guilty -- the accused could be awarded just 82 days per killing. As harrowing testimony emerged from the summer camp where scores of youngsters were mown down, Norway is struggling to understand how a country famed as a beacon of peace could experience such bloodshed on its soil.
Breivik described his actions as 'cruel but necessary' and 'planned over a long period of time'.  His Facebook page describes him as "conservative", "Christian", and interested in hunting and computer games like World of Warcraft and Modern Warfare 2, reports said. A rambling 1,500-page manifesto written by Behring Breivik said he has been preparing the "martyrdom operation" since at least autumn 2009. He boasted he was one of up to 80 "solo martyr cells" recruited across Western Europe to topple governments tolerant of Islam, it said, adding that Scotland Yard was now trying to establish if he had recently visited London. Although he told investigators he acted alone, prosecutors stressed they had yet to uncover a motive -- despite the manifesto claims. Behring Breivik acknowledged in his tract that he would be deemed a "monster," but said it was designed to end a centuries-long Muslim colonisation of Europe.
Media reports say that Breivik, had links to the British far-right and claimed to have been in touch with the English Defence League (EDL). But the EDL, which campaigns against Islamic extremism in Britain, denied in a statement late Sunday it had any "official contact" with the 32-year-old. Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that Behring Breivik claimed in an online manifesto to have been recruited by far-right extremists at a 2002 meeting in London. Today, thousands of people bowed their heads in silence outside Oslo's main university at a ceremony led by Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and King Harald V who then signed a book of condolences inside. "To remember the victims who died at the goverment's headquarters and on the island of Utoeya, I declare a minute of silence," said Stotenberg. From the stock market to the country's airports and train stations, Norway came to a halt to mark the nation's deadliest tragedy since World War II.
There was widespread international condemnation, with US President Barack Obama saying the attacks were "a reminder that the entire international community has a stake in preventing this kind of terror from occurring".