Shock, horror of a ‘naïve’ country

When Norwegian Jon Elvestad, who lives in Malta, heard about Friday’s two attacks on his home country he feared it was the work of Islamist extremists that could lead to divisive and racist sentiments.

He was, in a sense, relieved to hear that the person suspected of the atrocities was a self-de-clared Norwegian “conservative Nationalist”.

“The news of what happened made me very sad... But, when I heard who the suspect was I thought that, instead of bringing fear, I believe this will bring stronger unity among the Norwegian people by increasing awareness about the negative repercussions of extremism,” Mr Elvestad said.

Almost 100 people are believed to have died in the ‘twin terror’ attacks in Norway that started with a car bombing near government offices in Oslo city centre on Friday afternoon. A few hours later the attack intensified with the mass shooting at the island of Utoeya where a Labour Party youth camp had gathered.

Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik, 32, is believed to be be-hind both attacks aimed at the government.

On hearing the news, Mr Elvested, who moved to Malta three years ago, said he immediately phoned his father – who worked in one of the Oslo government buildings – and his sister who lived nearby. Thankfully, both were on holiday.

While the Oslo bombing was shocking, the shooting at the youth camp was even more terrifying.

“This is something that will stay on my mind and on the mind of all Norwegians, no matter where they are,” he said.

His friend, Jon Hoisaeter, the Norwegian head of the UN Refugee Agency in Malta, was also relieved to find his family and friends were safe.

“It’s a horrific tragedy for so many people and all Norway is coming to terms with what happened. This is something no one expected and something no one can ever be prepared for... You feel helpless...

“The aim of the attack is to spread fear and change society and, in a sense, it becomes an objective to not let them succeed,” said Mr Hoisaeter.

Like most Norwegians, he cannot believe his peaceful country was the target of such “horrific” attacks and fears they would change the fabric of society. He said Norway has always been considered safe where mounting security with weapons and guards is not necessary.

But Anwar Bitar, a Norwegian man who lives in Oslo, feels it is time security is stepped up around government buildings.

“Norway has been a pretty naive country with security lacking around official buildings. I think now this will be debated... It’s crazy that this is happening in Norway,” he said during a telephone interview.

Mr Bitar spoke about his luck since he was in one of the hit government buildings, delivering some personal papers a few hours before the bombing. “While I was on the bus, heading for the parliament building, I remember thinking to myself that the streets looked really empty. Thank God for that,” he said.

Many people were on holiday last Friday, a factor believed to have led to the relatively small number of victims within the Oslo centre itself, considering the impact of the massive blast. Having Palestinian origins, Mr Bitar said that on hearing about the bombing he feared it would be pinned to Islamic fundamentalism and lead to a wave of racism. Robert Cornels Nordli, a local Labour leader and mayor candidate for the city of Arendal in Norway, said that after hearing about the Utoeya shooting he called some youths on the island. “When I heard about the shooting I phoned them and could hear shooting in the background... I logged on to Facebook to tell people not to call youths on the island because we’d be putting them in danger,” he said.

“Utoeya is a fantastic island where Labour party youths from all over the country get to know each other. The island will never be the same again,” he said.