DTN News - SYRIA UREST: Syrian Militants Violate Truce

DTN News - SYRIA UNREST: Syrian Militants Violate Truce

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources The Voice of Russia
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - October 29, 2012: In Damascus’s suburbs, militants have attacked 3 army block posts and shelled several army headquarters. In the city of Ain Terma, 4 servicemen have been killed.

According to the Al Jazeera TV channel, commanders of the so-called “Syrian Free Army” claim that they have seized the city of Silkin in the Idlib province.

Initially, it was planned that the truce would last until Monday, but political observers doubt that the government will refrain from using force until that time in such a situation.

Saudi authorities disperse Syrian rebels' protest in Mecca

Saudi authorities quickly dispersed a protest by hundreds of Syrian pilgrims calling for the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and denouncing what they said was international failure to stop bloodshed in Syria.

Protesters held up rebel flags and marched toward the Jamarat Bridge in Mina, east of the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca, where more than 3 million Muslim pilgrims congregated for the annual haj.

No one was hurt when two police vehicles drove slowly in the direction of the protesters with the sirens on as the officers asked the crowd through loudspeakers to leave the area. The protesters swiftly dispersed and merged with thousands of other pilgrims in the area, the witness said.

Saudi officials made it clear in recent days that they want a politics-free pilgrimage and urged pilgrims to focus on performing the rituals.

The haj pilgrimage is one of the Muslim faith's so-called five pillars and a religious duty for all Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime if they are capable. It started on Wednesday and ends on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia has led Arab efforts to isolate President Bashar al-Assad's government and has supported the rebels with money and logistics.

At the protest, dozens of security guards already deployed in the area stood by without interfering.

"Syria lives forever despite of you Assad," the protesters shouted as the streamed by a giant wall at Jamarat Bridge used for the ritual stoning of the devil, one of the main rites of the haj. Another slogan went: "We don't want Bashar, all Syrians raise your arms up!"

The imam of Mecca's Grand Mosque called on Arabs and Muslims on Friday to take "practical and urgent" steps to stop bloodshed in Syria, which has killed some 30,000 people, and urged world states to assume their moral responsibility toward the conflict.

Saudi Arabia has instructed its embassies to issue haj permits for Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, but most of the Syrians who made it to Mecca were those who live in the Gulf Arab region.

Syrian truce collapses, almost 150 killed

Almost 150 people died on the first day of a barely-observed truce between the warring parties in Syria, a watchdog said, adding that a fresh clashes on Saturday claimed more lives.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said of the 146 people killed in bombings, artillery fire and fighting on Friday, 53 were civilians, 50 were rebels and 43 were members of President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

State media blamed "terrorists," the regime term for rebels, for a car bomb attack in Damscus hat killed at least eight people and wounded 30, and a rights watchdog reported another deadly bombing in Daraa.

Rebels accused regime forces of opening up with artillery in the ebbattled north, where the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported fighting near the key army base of Wadi Deif and shelling and clashes near Damascus.

Ceasefire violated, 3 killed by snipers, tank fire outside Damascus

Three people were killed by tank fire and snipers in the Damascus suburb of Harasta on Friday, activists said, in another violation of a ceasefire intended to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

Rebels in a northern town close to the Turkish border also reported one of their fighters was shot dead by a sniper early on Friday and a Reuters journalist in the town heard what sounded like four rounds of tank fire.

Heavy clashes at Syrian army base, violating Eid ceasefire

Heavy fighting broke out around a Syrian military base on Friday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, in the first major violation of a ceasefire marking the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

The Observatory said rebel fighters were trying to storm the base, which is less than 1 km (half a mile) from the main north-south highway linking Damascus to Aleppo, and President Bashar al-Assad's forces had fired artillery at a nearby village.

Voice of Russia, TASS, Reuters, AFP

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources The Voice of Russia
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DTN News - NORWAY BOMB BLASTS NEWS: Norway Mass Killer Wants Time In Court To Tell Why

DTN News - NORWAY BOMB BLASTS NEWS: Norway Mass Killer Wants Time In Court To Tell Why

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Jon Hemming - Reuters

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada / OSLO, Norway - July 25, 2011: Anders Behring Breivik wants to tell Norway and the world why he killed at least 93 people in a bomb attack and shooting rampage, but prosecutors have asked for Monday's custody hearing to be closed to the public.

The judge will decide whether to keep the session closed, prosecutors said in an email in English. "This issue will be negotiated after the opening of the meeting (hearing)," they said. "The judge will then read his decision to the press."

Prosecutors want Breivik detained for an initial eight weeks -- normally this is in solitary confinement with no access to news, letters or visitors, except a lawyer. His custody can be extended before his trial on terrorism charges.

Police have said a trial could be a year away. The maximum jail term in Norway is 21 years, although that can be extended if there is a risk of repeat offences.

"In theory he can be in jail for the rest of his life," said professor of criminal law at the University of Oslo, Staale Eskeland.

Breivik, a self-confessed mass killer, has said through his lawyer that he wants to explain his motives at the hearing.

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'.

The hearing, expected to start after 1 p.m. (1100 GMT), has generated a debate about freedom of expression, with many Norwegians opposed to allowing a man who has shaken the nation's psyche to expound his radical views.

More than 60,000 people have signed up to a Facebook page called "Shut the doors on Monday," calling on the court to deny Breivik the publicity he craves.

Another Facebook group called "Boycott Anders Behring Breivik" carried the message: "He has planned this stage, to get propaganda. Do NOT let him get that freedom...Boycott all media describing the Norwegian terrorist and his beliefs."

Breivik has asked to wear a uniform in court, but his lawyer, Geir Lippestad, said he did not know what type. The killer was dressed as a policeman during his shooting spree.

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.

Lippestad said his client had admitted to Friday's shootings at a Labour youth camp and an earlier bombing 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.

SAVING EUROPE

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 multi-culturalism.

That he surrendered to police when finally confronted on the tiny island of Utoeya after shooting dead 86 youngsters underlines his desire to secure a public platform.

Breivik wrote in his manifesto, posted hours before his attacks, that if he survived his assault and was arrested, this would "mark the initiation of the propaganda phase."

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 Utoeya island on Friday -- an hour after they were notified of the shooting.

Norway will observe a minute of silence at midday.

"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," adding his client did not feel he deserved punishment.

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.

IMMIGRATION

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.

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.

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 Utoeya, 45 km (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.

"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:-)."

"DUM-DUM"

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

"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.

While Breivik was stalking his prey on Utoeya, it took police a full hour to get a team of elite forces to the island after one boat, overloaded with officers and equipment, was forced to stop when it began to take on water.

Norwegian television managed to charter a helicopter and filmed the killer before the police showed up. When the armed team did arrive, Br eivik gave himself up without a fight.

"He had at that point used two weapons and had been, and was still, in possession of a substantial amount of ammunition," Johan Fredriksen, chief of staff at Oslo police. "Thus, the police's response has hindered further killing on the island."

(Additional reporting by Walter Gibbs, Anna Ringstrom, Henrik Stoelen, Terje Solsvik, Patrick Lannin, Johan Ahlander, Wojciech Moskwa, Alister Doyle, John Acher and Ole Petter Skonnord in Oslo, Editing by Alistair Lyon)

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Jon Hemming - Reuters

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DTN News - NORWAY BOMB BLASTS NEWS: Norway Shooting, Explosion ~ 91 Killed, Suspect Charged

DTN News - NORWAY BOMB BLASTS NEWS: Norway Shooting, Explosion ~ 91 Killed, Suspect Charged

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources

ABC News

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - July 23, 2011:

People in Norway are in shock today after a man dressed as a police officer is suspected of shooting and killing at least 84 at a summer youth camp Friday, just hours after setting off an explosion in nearby Oslo that killed seven.

Officials initially reported that at least 10 people were killed at the youth camp on the island of Utoya but later increased the death toll after more bodies were found, according to the Associated Press.

Officials said that the death toll could still rise.

Norwegian police have arrested a Norwegian man for the attacks.

Police would not confirm the identity of the suspect but said they have charged him with acts of terrorism.

The man is believed to be responsible for both attacks.

TV2, Norway's largest broadcaster, was among several local media outlets that identified the suspect as Anders Behring Breivik, 32.

Breivik is described as a member of "right-wing extremist groups in eastern Norway."

Morten Edvardsen/Scanpix/AP Photo

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Police said the investigation is still open and they are trying to determine an exact motive and whether he was working with anyone.

"This is beyond comprehension. It's a nightmare. It's a nightmare for those who have been killed, for their mothers and fathers, family and friends," Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg told reporters early today.

Just hours before the shooting at a summer youth camp run by Norway's ruling party on the island of Utoya, explosions ripped through a government building in the capital city of Oslo and left at least seven people dead.

The suspect had been seen in Oslo earlier in the day, according to media reports.

Youth Camp Shooting

After blasts rocked Oslo, the shore of a once idyllic lake at Utoya became a horrific triage area.

"The guy was dressed as a policeman and he was trying to ensure that he was helping us and he said, 'come here,'" said witness Jorgen Benone. "He had a rifle or a sniper which he was using to shoot at us. It was total chaos."

Many tried to swim to safety but the gunman armed with several weapons was able to shoot them as they swam.

Bodies after bodies were pulled from the lake.

The boats and helicopters couldn't move the dead and injured fast enough.

"People were jumping out of windows and running everywhere in all directions - terrified for their lives," said Benone. "Most people ran towards the water hiding behind stones and small hills."

Adrian Pracon, a 21-year-old district secretary, says shooting victims were falling on top of him on the island.

He said he played dead in order to save his own life.

"I feel his breath, I could feel his boots, I could the warmth from the barrel but I didn't move and that's what saved my life," said Pracon.

ABC News' Brian Ross, Mark Schone, Josh Haskell, Robin Respaut and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources ABC News

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DTN News - NORWAY BOMB BLASTS NEWS: At least 87 Dead In Norway Shooting, Bomb Attack

DTN News - NORWAY BOMB BLASTS NEWS: At least 87 Dead In Norway Shooting, Bomb Attack

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Reuters

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada / OSLO, Norway - July 23, 2011:

A gunman dressed in police uniform opened fire at a youth camp of Norway's ruling political party on Friday, killing at least 80 people, hours after a bomb killed seven in the government district in the capital Oslo.

Witnesses said the gunman, identified by police as a 32-year-old Norwegian, moved across the small, wooded Utoeya holiday island firing at random as young people scattered in fear. Norwegian television TV2 said the gunman detained by police was described as tall and blond and had links to right-wing extremism.

"We had all gathered in the main house to talk about what had happened in Oslo. Suddenly we heard shots. First we thought it was nonsense. Then everyone started running," a survivor, 16-year-old called Hana told Norway's Aftenposten.

"I saw a policeman stand there with earplugs. He said 'I'd like to gather everyone'. Then he ran in and started shooting at people. We ran down toward the beach and began to swim." Hana said the gunman fired at people in the water.

Many sought shelter in buildings as shots echoed across the island, ran into the woods or tried to swim to safety. Boats searched for survivors into the night, searchlights sweeping the coast. Rescue helicopters flew overhead.

The bomb, which shook the city center in mid-afternoon, blew out the windows of the prime minister's building and damaged the finance and oil ministry buildings. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who was not in the building at the time, will give a press conference at 0600 GMT on Saturday.

EXPLOSIVES FOUND ON ISLAND

There were no immediate reports of other suspects. But acting police chief Sveinung Sponheim said authorities were working on the hypothesis that several people may have been involved.

Police seized the gunman, named by local media as Anders Behring Breivik, and later found undetonated explosives on the island, a pine-clad strip of land about 500 meters long, to the northwest of Oslo.

Breivik's Facebook page appeared to have been blocked by late evening. Earlier it had listed interests including bodybuilding, conservative politics and freemasonry.

Norwegian media said he had set up a Twitter account a few days ago and posted a single message on July 17 saying: "One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who have only interests."

About 10 police officers were outside the address registered to his name in a four-story red brick building in west Oslo.

The Norwegian daily Verdens Gang quoted a friend as saying

he became a right-wing extremist in his late 20s. It said he expressed strong nationalistic views in online debates and had been a strong opponent of the idea that people of different cultural backgrounds can live alongside each other.

With police advising people to evacuate central Oslo, and some soldiers taking up positions on the streets, the usually sleepy capital was gripped by fear of fresh attacks. Streets were strewn with shattered masonry, glass and twisted steel.

Norwegians reacted with horror to television images of the bodies of young men and women strewn around the island.

"I just saw people jumping into the water, about 50 people swimming toward the shore. People were crying, shaking, they were terrified," said Anita Lien, 42, who lives by Tyrifjord lake, a few hundred meters (yards) from Utoeya island, northwest of Oslo.

"They were so young, between 14 and 19 years old."

A young girl, her hair still wet after escaping told TV2:

"He walked slowly but surely around it (the island) and shot everyone. Eventually he came to where I sat and then he slowly went over and shot ten people." She escaped by jumping into the water."

"He was so calm, that is what was so strange."

It is the most violent event to strike Norway since World War Two," said Geir Bekkevold, an opposition parliamentarian for the Christian Peoples Party.

The prime minister declined to speculate on who had been involved. But he told a televised news conference. "No one will bomb us to silence, no one will shoot us to silence."

OKLAHOMA BOMBING

NUPI Senior Research Fellow Jakub Godzimirski said he suspected a right-winger, rather than any Islamist group. Right wing groups have grown up in Norway and elsewhere in northern Europe around the issue of immigration.

"It would be very odd for Islamists to have a local political angle. The attack on the Labour youth meeting suggests it's something else. If Islamists wanted to attack, they could have set off a bomb in a nearby shopping mall rather than a remote island."

Right-wing militancy has generated sporadic attacks in other countries, including the United States. In 1995, 168 people were killed when Timothy McVeigh detonated a truck bomb at a federal building in Oklahoma City.

NATO member Norway has been the target of threats before over its involvement in conflicts in Afghanistan and Libya.

Violence or the threat of it has already come to the other Nordic states: a botched bomb attack took place in the Swedish capital Stockholm last December and the bomber was killed.

Denmark has received repeated threats after a newspaper published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in late 2005, angering Muslims worldwide.

In Oslo, the building of a publisher which recently put out a translation of a Danish book on the cartoon controversy was also affected, but was apparently not the target.

The Oslo district attacked is the very heart of power in Norway. Nevertheless, security is not tight in a country unused to such violence and better known for awarding the Nobel Peace Prize and mediating in conflicts, including the Middle East and Sri Lanka.

(Additional reporting by Gwladys Fouche, Victoria Klesty, Henrik Stoelen and Ole Petter Skonnord in Oslo, William Maclean in London and Patrick Lannin in Stockholm; Writing by Myra MacDonald; Editing by Ralph Boulton and Matthew Jones)

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Reuters

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