I've just seen a picture showing what looks like a massive explosion at the government buildings in Oslo. This looks like terrorism. (update: the police had already confirmed it was a bomb blast)
I think this deserves its own thread-
"It has been known for some time that al-Qaida core and other related "franchises" - including in the most active in Yemen – have been attempting to develop operations. Which leads to a second question: why Norway?...
The answer to that is three fold. In then first instance, with the increased levels of security and surveillance in the UK and the US as well as other European capitals, Norway might have been seen as a softer target despite the recent breaking up of an al-Qaida cell in Norway.
A more detailed explanation of the problems that Norway has had with Al Qaeda were supplied a year ago by the Atlantic magazine in an article by Thomas Hegghammer, a senior fellow at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment in Oslo, and Dominic Tierney.
That piece followed the arrest of three men in Norway and Germany for allegedly plotting a terrorist attack involving peroxide explosives. All of those arrested were were Muslim immigrants to Norway.
The first explanation," wrote Hegghammer and Tierney, "is Afghanistan. Norway has been part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan from its foundation in late 2001.... In late 2007, for example, Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaida's
second-in-command, said that the group had previously threatened Norway because it "participated in the war against the Muslims...
A second contributory factor for why Norway may have been eyed in the past for potential jihadi terrorist attack is the fact that in 2006, a Norwegian newspaper reprinted a series of Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad which prompted threats against the country. A third potential explanation is the recent decision last week by a Norwegian prosecutor filed terror charges against an Iraqi-born cleric for threatening Norwegian politicians with death if he's deported from the Nordic country. The indictment centered on statements that Mullah Krekar - the founder of the Kurdish Islamist group Ansar al-Islam - made to various media, including American network NBC"
~ http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog...-live-coverage
Another possibility is that this 'may' have been related to the Lybian threats of attacking Europe, according to a commentator.
I think this deserves its own thread-
"It has been known for some time that al-Qaida core and other related "franchises" - including in the most active in Yemen – have been attempting to develop operations. Which leads to a second question: why Norway?...
The answer to that is three fold. In then first instance, with the increased levels of security and surveillance in the UK and the US as well as other European capitals, Norway might have been seen as a softer target despite the recent breaking up of an al-Qaida cell in Norway.
A more detailed explanation of the problems that Norway has had with Al Qaeda were supplied a year ago by the Atlantic magazine in an article by Thomas Hegghammer, a senior fellow at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment in Oslo, and Dominic Tierney.
That piece followed the arrest of three men in Norway and Germany for allegedly plotting a terrorist attack involving peroxide explosives. All of those arrested were were Muslim immigrants to Norway.
The first explanation," wrote Hegghammer and Tierney, "is Afghanistan. Norway has been part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan from its foundation in late 2001.... In late 2007, for example, Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaida's
second-in-command, said that the group had previously threatened Norway because it "participated in the war against the Muslims...
A second contributory factor for why Norway may have been eyed in the past for potential jihadi terrorist attack is the fact that in 2006, a Norwegian newspaper reprinted a series of Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad which prompted threats against the country. A third potential explanation is the recent decision last week by a Norwegian prosecutor filed terror charges against an Iraqi-born cleric for threatening Norwegian politicians with death if he's deported from the Nordic country. The indictment centered on statements that Mullah Krekar - the founder of the Kurdish Islamist group Ansar al-Islam - made to various media, including American network NBC"
~ http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog...-live-coverage
Another possibility is that this 'may' have been related to the Lybian threats of attacking Europe, according to a commentator.
"If your enemies cannot find a flaw in your reasoning, they will find it in your reputation".
~ William Hazlitt
"If your enemies cannot find a flaw in your reasoning, they will find it in your reputation".
~ William Hazlitt
