Free Republic

“Radical doesn’t belong in Norway in any way, and we will fight it,” Kolberg said. “The Labor Party wants to take care of the interests of the great majority, at the same time that we must be crystal clear that Norwegian law applies and that all extremist groups have no place in Norwegian society.” ... Yesterday Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg called an urgent phone-conference with his party's leadership and said the Kolberg's declaration of war against radical Islam reflects the view of the party.

The War on Terror doesn’t make us safe any more than the War on Drugs keeps drugs off the streets. The thing that keeps rattling around my brain every time one of these major attacks takes place is that really this war is being waged in the wrong way entirely. Instead of invading Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya, we should be following the money, going after the funders of extremists here and abroad. A lot of that money goes back to Saudi Arabia and other wealthy families in the Middle East, and of course they have ties to business and government...

Even the NYT says this is Islamic terrorism...

At least seven people were killed in a powerful bomb blast that ripped apart government buildings in Norway's capital. Shortly after the blast, a gunman opened fire at a youth camp outside Oslo. Police suspect the attacks are linked. The bombing is the deadliest in Oslo since World War II. It tore open several buildings, including the prime minister's office. Prime Minister Yens Stoltenburg was not hurt. U.S. government sources told ABC News there may have been multiple explosions and at least one of them was the result of a massive vehicle bomb. Windows were shattered at the 20-floor high-rise...

A memo written in 2009, describes the country’s security service as “in over its head” and adds “it simply cannot keep up.” Separate cables state that the country felt “immune” from terrorism and that groups such as Al Qaeda were “not a direct threat”. One memo describes how US authorities had to “press” their Norwegian counterparts to take terrorism seriously and says there was a feeling “that terrorism happens elsewhere, not in peaceful Norway.” Talking about an attempt by the Police Security Service (PST) to track one particular suspected Al Qaeda terror cell, a cable written by the US Ambassador...

In the immediate aftermath of the attack in Oslo, speculation about the party that might be responsible has centered on Ansar al-Islam, a Kurdish militant group that has been tied by U.S. officials to al-Qaeda and that carried out attacks on American troops and civilians in Iraq at the height of the war there. Norway’s contingent in Afghanistan, or even its “cartoon crisis” of 2006, could make the country a target for any number of terrorist groups, as the Atlantic has noted. Already, there’s been at least one claim of responsibility for Friday’s bombing from an al-Qaeda-linked jihadist. The U.S....

Thieves have stolen 660kg (1400lb) of dynamite from an unstaffed storage depot in Norway, say police. Around 5,000 detonators were also stolen, raising fears of a terrorist attack, officials told state radio. The missing dynamite was more than six times the amount used for the bomb attacks on trains in Madrid nearly a month ago. Last May, a taped message attributed to al-Qaeda's second-in-command urged Muslim militants to hit Norway. In the message, a man identified as al-Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri advocated attacks on the embassies and interests of the United States, Britain, Australia and Norway, to drive them...

Norway Shuts Cairo Embassy Over Threats Thursday January 8, 2004 11:46 PM OSLO, Norway (AP) - Norway temporarily closed its embassy in Cairo, Egypt, on Thursday because of an undisclosed terror threat, officials said. Foreign Ministry spokesman Karsten Klepsvik said it was not clear how long the diplomatic station would remain closed. The decision ``is based on a total evaluation of the threat picture,'' Klepsvik said. ``We do a running evaluation of the threat level.'' He would not give any details about the possible threat. Norway, the home of the Nobel Peace Prize and famous for its global peace efforts,...

The Norwegian authorities redetained one of the founder of the Kurdish Ansar al-Islam group in Iraq, al-Mullah Kreikar, yesterday, just 6 month after the authorities dropped terrorism accusations against him because of the lack of evidence. According to the Norwegian daily "Fe Je," it is suspected that al-Mullah Kreikar is involved in suicide attacks carried out by Ansar al-Islam in northern Iraq. Monitoring telephone calls, allowed making links between Kreikar and recent activities for the said Islamic group, in which Kreikar stressed he is no longer leading it, since May 2002, as the paper explained in its site at the...

<p>October 27, 2003 -- WASHINGTON - The leader of an al Qaeda-linked terror group responsible for some of the biggest attacks on coalition forces in Iraq calls the shots from an apartment in Norway, U.S. counterterrorism officials say.</p> <p>The officials told The Post they are increasingly frustrated over Mullah Krekar, the founder and spiritual leader of Ansar al-Islam. Last week the Pentagon branded the group the "principal terrorist adversary" of U.S. forces in Iraq.</p>

The news that Norwegian interests in Muslim nations were now targets of al-Qaida terrorism stunned Norwegian authorities. Security at embassies was immediately stepped up as baffled experts and politicians tried to fathom why Norway had made the list. Confusion was rampant after Osama bin Laden's closest adviser Ayman al-Zawahri added Norway to the more predictable list of the USA, Great Britain and Australia - active partners in the alliance against Iraq - as targets for a new wave of terrorist attacks. The threat was being taken very seriously, but one of the first reactions was that Norway must have been...

THE United States closed its embassy in the Norwegian capital today in response to purported threats from the al-Qaeda terror network, as Norway reviewed the risk to the country. The Arab television station Al-Jazeera aired an audio tape yesterday purportedly by Ayman al-Zawahri, the top lieutenant of Osama bin Laden, urging attacks on the United States, Britain, Australia and, surprisingly, Norway. NATO-member Norway, a Scandinavian country of 4.5 million, is noted for its global peacemaking efforts and is the home of the Nobel Peace Prize. It did not participate in the US-led war in Iraq. The US Embassy said it...

Norway should have been included in a threat attributed to the al-Qaeda network broadcast on Al-Jazeera television on Wednesday. The hope of the authorities was that al-Qaeda simply got their geography wrong and did not mean to threaten Norway at all The threat from what is said to be the al-Qaeda network has baffled authorities and people here alike. Analysts are struggling to come up with any reasons why Norwegian embassies and interests abroad should be singled out for attacks from Muslim fundamentalists. Norway has traditionally been seen as a peacemaker in the Middle East and the country protested against...