Oslo: The man blamed for attacks on Norway's government headquarters and a youth retreat said he was motivated by a desire to bring about a revolution in Norwegian society, his lawyer said on Sunday.
Police and his lawyer have said that Anders Behring Breivik confessed to the twin attacks, but denied criminal responsibility for a day that shook peaceful Norway to its core and was the deadliest ever in peacetime. He has been charged with terrorism and will be arraigned on Monday.
In all, 92 people were killed in the attacks and 97 were wounded. There are still people missing at both scenes, and divers were searching the waters around the island on Saturday for bodies.
Norway's King Harald V and his wife Queen Sonja joined mourners for the Sunday service at Oslo's Cathedral. Flowers and candles were strewn over vast areas of the plaza outside the cathedral.
All the pews in the church were packed, and people were even standing at the back and outside, huddling under umbrellas in the rain.
Little is known about the man who police say set off a car bomb at government headquarters in Oslo and then, hours later, opened fire on young people at an island political retreat. Both targets were linked to Norway's left-leaning Labor Party, and authorities have said Breivik held anti-Muslim views and posted on Christian fundamentalist websites.
"He wanted a change in society and, from his perspective, he needed to force through a revolution," Geir Lippestad, his lawyer, told public broadcaster NRK. "He wished to attack society and the structure of society."
Witnesses at the island youth retreat described the way Breivik lured them close by saying he was a police officer before raising his weapons. People hid and fled into the water to escape the rampage; some played dead.
While some on the island reported that there was a second assailant and police said they were looking into that, Lippestad said his client claims to have acted alone.
Police took 90 minutes from the first shot to reach the island, but Breivik surrendered when they reached him.
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, July 24, 2011, 16:00