InfoAnda - Special report: In Breivik's past, few clues to troubled future |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Egypt is focus as Clinton visits Israel after nearly two years | | 16 July 2012
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary | 16 April 2010
Jon Gosselin Denies Exploiting Children For Reality Show | 7 June 2009

Harry Potter fans brave wind and rain for premiere | 12 November 2010

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Special report: In Breivik's past, few clues to troubled future |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Green Business Legal Deals Earnings Summits Business Video Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia Afghan Journal Africa Journal India Insight Global News Journal Pakistan: Now or Never? World Video Politics Politics Home Front Row Washington Politics Video Technology Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland Felix Salmon Breakingviews George Chen Bernd Debusmann Gregg Easterbrook James Pethokoukis James Saft John Wasik Christopher Whalen Ian Bremmer Mohamed El-Erian Lawrence Summers The Great Debate Unstructured Finance Newsmaker MuniLand Money Money Home Analyst Research Global Investing MuniLand Reuters Money Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Life & Culture Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Left Field Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Article Comments (0) Slideshow Full Focus Editor's choice A selection of our top photos from the past 24 hours. Full Article Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Putin says U.S. is "parasite" on global economy 01 Aug 2011 Rhode Island's Central Falls files for bankruptcy 01 Aug 2011 Analysis: Tea Party proves clout, but at what cost? 1:07am EDT Chinese retailers hijack the Ikea experience 01 Aug 2011 Evacuate West Bank settlers without delay: Israeli court 9:47am EDT Discussed 216 Vote delayed on debt bill as default date looms 197 Putin says U.S. is a ”parasite” on global economy 167 Debt compromise eyed under deadline squeeze Watched Scientists warn of "Planet of the Apes" scenario Sat, Jul 30 2011 Japan's quake brought back to life on giant globe Mon, Aug 1 2011 House votes 269 to 161 to raise debt ceiling 10:03am EDT Special report: In Breivik's past, few clues to troubled future Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Norway soul-searches on crime after rampage Mon, Aug 1 2011 Norway killer "more than willing to talk": police Sat, Jul 30 2011 Norway mourns, buries dead, a week after massacre Fri, Jul 29 2011 Search for bodies on Norwegian island ends Thu, Jul 28 2011 Norway agrees to security review after killings Wed, Jul 27 2011 Analysis & Opinion The way to the island of horror The myth of the irrational Murdoch Related Topics World » 1 of 2. Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik (L), the man accused of a killing spree and bomb attack in Norway, sits in the rear of a vehicle as he is transported in a police convoy as he is leaving the courthouse in Oslo July 25, 2011. Credit: Reuters/Jon-Are Berg-Jacobsen/Aftenposten via Scanpix By John Acher, Alister Doyle and Peter Apps RENA, Norway | Tue Aug 2, 2011 11:26am EDT RENA, Norway (Reuters) - On a taxi ride to his farmhouse the day before he killed 77 people, Anders Behring Breivik talked easily of a future he must have known would never come. Police believe the 32-year-old Norwegian had just deposited one of two vehicles -- either the car carrying the bomb that would devastate Norway's government district or the van he would use to help get him to a political youth camp -- in downtown Oslo. He then caught a train back to Rena where he flagged down the silver-grey Mercedes station wagon driven by 40-year-old Ariid Tangen. As the pair drove through the rolling countryside to the home where Breivik had written his 1,518-page "manifesto" and spent months planning his attack, the self-proclaimed defender of Europe made small talk. "We spoke all the way and had a nice talk about nothing: the weather, the farm and that he wanted to be a farmer," Tangen told Reuters a few days later. "He said he hired the farm to live like a farmer and that, if he liked it, he would buy one for himself." At no stage on the 12-km (7-mile) journey, Tangen said, did Breivik give any hint of what was to come. "In my mind I've gone through it all in the most tiny detail," the taxi driver said. "He had no nerves, he joked, he laughed. I just can't get my mind round how he did it. He must have just... parked the bomb." For many Norwegians, still numbed by the worst violence in the country since World War Two, the fact the alleged killer looked and acted so normally is one of the most disturbing aspects of the attacks. "What keeps me awake at night is that he is not a monster," wrote Peter Svaar, a Norwegian journalist who was at school with Breivik as a young teenager. "He is a normal Norwegian boy." Most of those close to Breivik have gone to ground since the attacks of July 22. Phones are left unanswered and a policeman who answered the door of Breivik's mother's upmarket Oslo house simply smiled and said "There's no one home." And while some of those prepared to speak say there was always something odd about the quiet, serious young man, others insist they saw no warning signs at all. "He was a normal, well-behaved Norwegian boy," his former stepmother Tove Oevermo told Reuters in a short telephone interview. "There were no signs." YOUTHFUL ANT KILLER Breivik's upbringing was remarkably privileged, even by Norwegian standards. He went to the same Oslo primary school as Crown Prince Haakon, who was a few years older. At Handelsgymnasium, a high school in central Oslo where parents of new students are treated to an organist playing music by Edward Elgar, Breivik would have been surrounded not only by a keen sense of tradition but by his country's future business and political leaders. "I haven't really had any negative experiences in my childhood in any way," Breivik himself wrote of his upbringing. But some of those who knew him say that even as a child Breivik always pushed the limits. "He seemed a tough guy who could do things that were unthinkable for us. Like spitting in the cellar, urinating in the neighbor's storeroom and took great pleasure in killing ants," Lina Engelsrud, a childhood friend who knew him from roughly the age of 3 to 14 wrote in Aura Avis, a local newspaper. Crime researchers speculate that Breivik may have struggled to cope with the absence of a high-achieving diplomat father who abandoned the family when his son was only one. Jens Breivik worked for the Foreign Ministry from 1966-96, ministry spokesman Frode Andersen said. Breivik senior served postings in London, Tehran and Paris before retiring in France. Jens and his new wife Tove -- another career diplomat -- briefly sued for custody of the young Anders, he writes, but lost the case. He occasionally visited them in France, he says, but grew up with his mother Wenche, a nurse, and her new husband, a Norwegian army officer. Breivik says his youth was dominated by strong "matriarchal" figures he worries "feminized" him, devoting a significant proportion of its manifesto to bemoaning the decline of conventional "fatherhood" in western Europe in general. "The absence of fatherhood has created a society full of social pathologies, and the lack of male self-confidence has made us easy prey to our enemies," he said. "If the West is to survive, we need to reassert a healthy dose of male authority." Contact with his father was broken off completely, Breivik says, after he got into trouble for graffiti during his teens -- although he remained in contact with his stepmother. He said his father had also isolated himself from his other four children "so it is pretty clear whose fault that was." Breivik talks of his occasional desire for a rapprochement, but says it never happened. Speaking to Norwegian television from France after the attack last month, Breivik's father said he sometimes wished his son had killed himself rather than attack others. "Maybe he felt he was not as good as his father, but this is just speculation," Ragnhild Bjoernebekk, a researcher at Norway's police school who specializes in crime and violence, told Reuters. "100 PERCENT HETERO" Alternately, Bjoernebekk hypothesizes that Breivik might have been upset when a lover rejected him. Breivik wrote disapprovingly of some of his friends, saying they had 700 sexual partners. "I have lived quite ascetic, a lifestyle that wouldn't appeal to that many," he wrote. "However, if I wanted I could have more or less everything I set my mind on." Some of his friends and his sister repeatedly tried to persuade him to find a girlfriend, he said, but that would not have fitted with his plan. His priority, he wrote, was safeguarding his mission. "A couple of my friends have their suspicions," he wrote. "I have managed to channel these suspicions far away from relating my political convictions. Instead, they suspect that I am playing WOW (the computer game World of Warcraft)... and a couple of them believe that I have chosen semi-isolation because of some alleged homosexual relationship which they suspect I am trying to hide." Such an idea was "hilarious" he said, as he was "100% hetero." Breivik makes clear in his journal that he deliberately chose a social circle he believed would not suspect and would not get in his way. His descriptions of his friends are sometimes affectionate, sometimes terrifyingly cold. He wrote about one friend, Marius, who "was a fireman, which is quite ironic as I will soon ensure he gets his hands full." "I ... only corresponded with moderate people who had no clue whatsoever about my clandestine activities," he wrote. In another entry, he suggests he might shoot his landlord's girlfriend if she came to the farm building unexpectedly and discovered his preparation. He wrote of his affection for his stepmother but says that because she had worked as a senior official in Norway's immigration agency -- which he blamed for the arrival of foreign Muslims -- she, like many others, deserved to die. "Although I care for her a great deal, I wouldn't hold it against the KT (Knights Templar) if she was executed in an attack ... as she used to be a primary tool and category B traitor for the multiculturalist regime of Norway." The Knights Templar Breivik mentions appear to be a disparate collection of right-wing fanatics including former Serb war criminals and English nationalists, all planning semi-independent action. SELF-DELUSION? Breivik's vast document, posted on the Internet and e-mailed to hundreds of contacts a few hours before the attack, gives us some clues to what drove him: the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999, a 2002 meeting in London with other extremists and attempted muggings by migrants on Oslo streets. But investigators and other analysts say the document may also be riddled with inaccuracies and that Breivik's talent for deceit may also have extended to self-delusion. All his testimony shows for sure, they say, is a troubled man who believed killing would bring readers to his thoughts and give his life the meaning it seemed otherwise to lack. European police are urgently checking his claims of a wider network but say they believe he likely acted alone. Whilst his focus on publicity and political effect might be borrowed in part from other militant groups such as Al Qaeda, who he had clearly studied and expressed a grudging respect for, they say a closer comparison might be other lone gunmen behind one-off attacks in Europe and North America. "To shoot like this tells of a person without emotion, without empathy...controlled in a very extraordinary way," said Bjoernebekk. "There are similarities to Columbine and Virginia Tech," she said, referring to the U.S. school shootings in 1999 and 2007. Pat Brown, a Washington D.C.-based criminal profiler, said that, like Breivik, the school shooters and other attackers such as Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh often had similar messiah-like delusions. "They decide they want to get their day in the sun and get their names in the newspapers, even if they are killed in the process," he said. "Most of it is about fantasy." ALWAYS OUT OF PLACE Exactly how Breivik got the money to rent his farm building, buy the materials for the attack and survive without employment for several years is not clear. Breivik boasts of his successful business career, saying he made his first million Norwegian crowns ($185,000) by the age of 24, then more in share speculation. But he says he lost another 2 million crowns in less well-planned investments. As with much else in his story, there may be an element of self-mythologizing. The businessman whom Breivik calls his "mentor" in his manifesto disputes the relationship was ever that close. "I have never acted as, nor accepted the role of any kind of mentor for him," Richard Steenfeldt Berg wrote on his Facebook page, admitting "I met this monster 11 years ago." He said he barely noticed Breivik's radical right-wing views. "He never -- oddly in hindsight -- mentioned anything xenophobic," he wrote. "However, I remember once, I was criticizing the immigration policies of the populist right wing. He went silent and left." Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of those who might have been expected to know the Norwegian killer claim to barely remember him. Breivik claimed that he once belonged to the Progress Party, an opposition populist right-wing group, and even stood as a candidate for Oslo city council in 2003 before deciding the party was not radical enough. But a party spokesman said Breivik "was anonymous. At official meetings, at parties, at dinners we cannot find a single picture of him. There is no trace of him writing anything." In one journal entry, Breivik wrote of one of his frequent trips into a nearby town to buy takeaway food. A "hot" girl in the restaurant checked him out, he said, prompting Breivik to worry that his smart clothes and good looks made him stand out too much in the rural area 100 km from Oslo. But nearby residents remember him more for his awkwardness and lack of knowledge of farming terminology. That impression looks to have lasted even up to the point where he stepped onto the ferry to the island on which he would kill most of his victims. Dressed in a police uniform, his manner and particularly his non-official vehicle put some passers-by on edge. "I remember I reacted that that the man came in a civilian vehicle and I am 100 percent sure I said...that we ought to check his identity and joked that he wasn't from the police," wrote Haakon Sandbakken, 22, who also took the ferry. But once again, no one challenged Breivik. Moments later, he was ashore and shooting. (Alister Doyle reported from Oslo, Peter Apps reported from London) (Editing by Simon Robinson and Sonya Hepinstall) World Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Social Stream (What's this?) Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Mobile Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Contact Us Advertise With Us Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electric trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Tuesday, 2 August 2011
Wideout Randy Moss retires after 13 NFL seasons
Suicide attack on African Union peacekeeping forces in Mogadishu
Israeli, Lebanese soldiers exchange fire on border
Pence In Pennsylvania: Phils excited about new acquisition
Fantasia Barrino announces pregnancy at concert
Fighting kills more than 20 in Gedo region of Somalia
FBI eyes new evidence in unsolved D.B. Cooper plane hijack
Kat Von D not editing out any of her romance with Jesse James on "L.A. Ink"
Bedouin face opportunity gulf in Negev
Gunmen assassinate Somali lawmaker
Hama assault into second day as U.N. revives Syria debate |
Libyans start Ramadan fast amid conflict, divisions |
Putin says U.S. is parasite on global economy |
Suicide bombers storm Afghan guesthouse, four killed |
Giants sign running back Ahmad Bradshaw to four-year deal
Israel PM ready to discuss border package: official |
Asdrubal Cabrera homers, knocks in four as Tribe top Red Sox
Chelios, Tkachuk, Suter among U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame inductees
Stanton lifts Marlins to series-opening win over Mets
Up to six more Somalia regions may face famine: U.N. |
Browns nullify Bunkley trade with Eagles over medical concerns
Second Season of "The Voice" to debut following Super Bowl
Australia uses YouTube to deter boatpeople |
Beavis and Butt-Head to use Licensed Videos
China police shoot dead two suspects in Xinjiang attacks |
Adam Levine to produce karaoke bar sitcom
Cuba revising travel policies: Raul Castro |
Pakistan seeks clear terms of engagement with U.S. |
FBI divers recover 7.5 tons cocaine from sunken sub; Haul worth $180 Million
Adam Johnson of Oswego , IL. leads Teen Masters bowling championships
Government hankers for hackers |
Samsung delays Australia tablet launch on Apple suit |
Android conquers almost 50 percent of smartphone market |
Sony's video game unit buys Sucker Punch studio |
Expert: networking defendant challenges wiretap |
Huawei hires ex-UK info chief as global cyber security |
Synchronoss Q2 beats Wall Street, ups FY11 outlook |
Google buys daily deal aggregator The Dealmap |
Slim's America Movil takes final consolidation step |
Tech firm says News International deleted emails |
Katharine Hepburn's former estate on sale for $28 million |
NBC calls Playboy Club a fun soap opera |
Kings of Leon cancel U.S. tour, Followill exhausted |
Cowboys edge Smurfs to take weekend box office |
Judge extends order against Halle Berry intruder |
Fantasia reveals she is pregnant |
Cuba's Creole Choir to qawwali at surging WOMAD 2011 |
Analysis: Pakistan relying too much on China against U.S. |
Special report: In Breivik's past, few clues to troubled future |
Mubarak: Egypt's ruler for 30 years now facing trial |
Raiders sign linebacker Kamerion Wimbley to five-year deal
Saudi billionaire to build world's tallest tower |
Senior figure held in News Corp hacking probe |
Five abducted Bangladeshis freed in Afghanistan
Storms churning in Atlantic, Pacific oceans
Pakistan, U.S. try to narrow differences as officials meet |
Arabs take credit for "Israeli Spring"
Even small amount of exercise good for heart
Timeline: Phone hacking scandal hits News Corp |
America's most expensive home is a ranch.
Bangladesh bus crash kills 16, hurts 50
Gazan defies handicap to live life to fullest
Giants give defensive end Osi Umenyiora permission to seek trade
Drought has Kenyans running on empty
Exclusive: Nine Google complainants in EU probe |
U.S. broadband closer to advertised speeds: study |
EA Sports tacks on fees for early access to games |
Russian minister calls for limits on the Internet |
Experts design soft, strong robot for healthcare facilities |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01