THE GUARDIAN: Gunman says he aspired to 'crusader' mentality of Serbs during Nato bombing of Kosovo as he is questioned on Knights Templar
Last summer's attacks on Norway were inspired by "Serb nationalists",Anders Behring Breivik has told a court in Olso as he attempted to distance himself from the "old school" of rightwing extremism propagated by the Nazis.
Giving evidence for a second day in his trial, the 33-year-old was questioned about the philosophy behind his deadly acts and the Knights Templar (KT) network of anti-Islamists he claims to have co-founded in London in 2002.
"As regards the identity [of KT]," he said on Wednesday, "the essence was to try to distance oneself sufficiently from national socialism because it was quite blood-stained. We felt it completely essential to do so. For the extreme right to be ever be able to prevail in Europe in the future, one had to distance oneself from the old school ideology. One would chose a new identity."
He added that this identity "was, in a way, imported from Serbia". The Serbs who fought and died during the Nato bombing of Kosovo in 1999 had a "crusader" mentality to which he aspired, he said.
Questioned about his path to radicalisation, Breivik said the bombing of Serbs was "the straw that broke the camel's back" for militant nationalist like himself. » | Helen Pidd in Oslo | Wednesday, April 18, 2012
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