PM calls for restraint as Norway mourns
Source: Agencies |
August 2, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
NORWAY'S prime minister yesterday called on politicians to show restraint in their public speaking as the country emerges from mourning the 77 victims of a bombing and youth camp massacre by an anti-Muslim extremist.
Jens Stoltenberg did not name anyone but seemed to be referring to sometimes heated discussions on immigration when he told parliament that the July 22 attacks gave reason to reflect on "what we have thought, said and written."
At a ceremony honoring the victims, he told lawmakers: "We all have something to learn from the tragedy. We can all have a need to say 'I was wrong,' and be respected for it." That goes for politicians and newsroom editors, in everyday conversations and on the Internet, the prime minister said.
"Our promise is that we take with us the spirit of July 22 when political work resumes. We will behave with the same wisdom and respect as the Norwegian people," Stoltenberg said.
Norway's political parties have agreed to postpone campaigning for local elections in September until mid-August, as the nation mourns the eight people killed in the Oslo bombing and the 69 victims of the shootings at an annual summer retreat held by the youth wing of the prime minister's Labor Party.
Confessed killer Anders Behring Breivik has said his attacks were an attempt at cultural revolution, aimed at purging Europe of Muslims and punishing politicians who have embraced multiculturalism.
Though investigators believe the 32-year-old Norwegian acted alone, they are searching his computer and telephone records for any signs of contact with other right-wing extremists who may have helped or influenced him, according to police attorney Paal-Fredrik Hjort Kraby.
Law enforcement agencies in other countries are assisting Norway, including the US, where authorities have interviewed Breivik's sister in Los Angeles, Kraby said.
Norwegian investigators have also spoken to Breivik's mother, who is in shock and has not asked to see him, according to Kraby.
If tried and convicted of terrorism, Breivik will face up to 21 years in prison, or an alternative custody arrangement that could keep him behind bars indefinitely.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu attended a funeral yesterday for Gizem Dogan, a 17-year-old girl of Turkish origin, who was among the victims of the shootings at the retreat on Utoya island.
Hundreds gathered for the ceremony in Trondheim, on Norway's west coast, which was held on a soccer field because the local mosque is too small.
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