A court in Oslo remanded Anders Behring Breivik in custody for eight weeks yesterday after the gunman who said he was behind last week’s massacre of 76 people claimed to have an active network of accomplices.

As thousands of flower-carrying Norwegians filed through the city centre in an overwhelming show of both grief and solidarity, even Mr Behring Breivik’s father said he wished his son had taken his own life.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg admitted the country would be changed permanently by last Friday’s car bombing in Olso and mass shootings on a nearby island, but vowed to ensure it remains an open society.

Meanwhile the head of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), Janne Kristiansen, said that Mr Behring Breivik had been flagged by the authorities back in March because of a purchase from a Polish business selling chemicals, but the incident was too insignificant to warrant a follow-up.

Mr Behring Breivik had been hoping to use his first court hearing as a platform to explain his actions to the public, but a judge ruled it be held behind closed doors and also barred the suspect from wearing a uniform in court.

Judge Kim Heger said Mr Behring Breivik had been remanded in custody for eight weeks – four in solitary confinement – as police investigate a claim he made during the hearing that he has built an active network of accomplices.

Briefing reporters after the arraignment, the judge said the self-styled Crusader told the court he wanted Muslim colonisation of Europe to end.

“The operation was not aimed at killing the largest number possible, but to send a powerful signal that couldn’t be mistaken,” Mr Heger said.

Before the attack, Mr Behring Breivik wrote a 1,500-page manifesto in which he boasted he was one of up to 80 “solo martyr cells” recruited across Western Europe to topple governments tolerant of Islam.

The suspect also indicated to the judge that he had accomplices who were still at large.

“It appears in the suspect’s police explanations Mrhe has made statements that require additional investigation – including a statement about ‘two further cells in our organisation’,” the judge said.

Prosecutor Christian Hatlo later revealed that Mr Behring Breivik declared himself “ready to spend the rest of his life in prison.”

Nevertheless, for all that “the accused has acknowledged the actual circumstances, he has not pleaded guilty,” the judge spelled out. Mr Behring Breivik’s 40-minute court appearance came after the country marked a minute’s silence also observed by Scandinavian neighbours.

But that was dwarfed by an evening vigil, where huge numbers flooding in left main city roads blocked and a planned memorial parade involving members of the royal family stuck in the giant crowds.

Names and photographs are to be released shortly of those who died, including offspring of senior ruling party figures.

It emerged yesterday that the half-brother of Norway’s Princess Mette-Marit – an off-duty policeman – was one of the victims of the gun attack.

“I think that ultimately he should have taken his own life rather than kill so many people,” his estranged father Jens Breivik said in a French television interview.

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