Norway intelligence admits possible errors ahead of Anders Breivik attacks
Norway's intelligence chief, under fire for claiming police could not have pre-empted the July massacre in which Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people, has admitted that her agency may have made mistakes.
Anders Behring Breivik is driven from court in Oslo Photo: REUTERS
Janne Kristiansen, the head of Norway's intelligence agency PST, said in an interview with daily Aftenposten, said: "We have to be humble and acknowledge that we may have made mistakes and some of our priorities may have been wrong,"
After the July 22 twin attacks, Ms Kristiansen was lambasted for prematurely claiming her agency could not have picked up on any clues of a pending attack because the Breivik was a "lone wolf."
"Even the Stasi (secret police) in East Germany would not have detected this person," she said just three days after the tragedy.
She later apologised for that remark.
The PST said it had received a list of names of people, including that of Behring Breivik, who had bought chemical products online that could be used to make bombs.
But the intelligence agency decided not to follow up on the information because Behring Breivik, who actively expressed anti-Islamic and anti-immigration remarks online, was not listed in its files.
"We have carried out the evaluations that we thought were necessary. Were they good enough? That's what the commission has to find out, and learn the lessons from," Ms Kristiansen said.
On August 12, the Norwegian government set up an independent commission to draw lessons from the attacks and see whether various administrations' work methods need to be improved.
Its work is expected to be concluded in August next year.
Ms Kristiansen also ruled out any talk of her resignation.
"I will not leave in the middle of a storm. When you're at the helm, the most important thing is stay on the job throughout the most difficult patches," she said. "Then you can see once everything has calmed down."
Several members of the opposition have called for Ms Kristiansen to resign, but Justice Minister Knut Storberget has given her his full support.
Friday 9 September 2011
Norway intelligence admits possible errors ahead of Anders Breivik attacks - Telegraph
via telegraph.co.uk
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