Far-right link in attacks seen as new threat to Europe
Analysts see anti-Muslim bigotry and economic hardship as reasons
London: A report that Norway's bomb and gun rampage is likely the work of a far-right militant confronts Europe with the possibility that a new paramilitary threat is emerging.
One analyst called the attacks possibly Europe's "Oklahoma City" moment, a reference to American right-wing militant Timothy McVeigh who detonated a truck bomb at a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 168 people.
Police forces in many western European countries worry about rising far-right sentiment, fuelled by a toxic mix of anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant bigotry and increasing economic hardship. But violence, while sometimes fatal, has rarely escalated beyond group thuggery and the use of knives.
That may have changed in Oslo and on the holiday island of Utoeya on Friday. Independent Norwegian television TV2 reported yesterday that the Norwegian man detained after the attacks had links to right-wing extremism. Police were searching a flat in west Oslo where he lived, TV2 said.
"If true this would be pretty significant — such a far-right attack in Europe, and certainly Scandinavia, would be unprecedented. The next key question is whether he was acting alone..." said Hagai Segal, a security specialist at New York University in London.
A report by European police agency Europol on security in 2010 said that there was no right-wing terrorism on the continent in that period.
But it added the far right was becoming very professional at producing online propaganda of an anti-Semitic and xenophobic nature and was increasingly active in online social networking.
"Although the overall threat from right-wing extremism appears to be on the wane and the numbers of right-wing extremist criminal offences are relatively low, the professionalism in their propaganda and organisation shows that right-wing extremist groups have the will to enlarge and spread their ideology and still pose a threat in EU member states," it said.
Public manifestations of right-wing extremism can often provoke counter-activity by extreme left-wing groups, invariably resulting in physical violence.
Key facts: Norway and Oslo
- Norway is one of the world's biggest oil and gas producers and its population of 4.9 million benefit from a generous welfare system.
- Oslo is one of the world's most expensive cities. Greater Oslo has a population of 1.4 million. It is the fastest growing city in Europe because of increased immigration.
- Nato member Norway has previously been the target of threats, but not bombs , notably over its involvement in conflicts in Afghanistan and Libya. Political violence is virtually unknown.
- Norway was one of the first European states to signal its willingness to implement a UN resolution aimed at protecting Libyan civilians. It deployed six F-16 fighters to fly missions over the country but said it would scale back its role once its three-month commitment ended on June 24.
- Norway has played a key mediating role in the Middle East peace process, broking the Oslo Accords. It also brokered a 2002 ceasefire between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka and in 2005 it helped hammer out a peace deal between north and south Sudan.
- Around 88 per cent of Norwegians are Lutheran Christians while two percent are Muslims.
- Oslo is home to the Nobel Peace Centre and a Norwegian committee awards the Nobel Peace Prize.
- n Founded in 1048 by King Harald Hardrade, Oslo is built in a horseshoe shape on the edge of Oslofjord and surrounded by forest. Its northern latitude means it has over 18 hours of sunlight each day in midsummer and only six hours in midwinter.
- Famous Norwegians include playwright Henrik Ibsen, artist Edvard Munch and explorers Roald Amundsen and Thor Heyerdahl.
