Oslo terrorist sought guns in Prague

According to Anders Behring Breivik's rambling, hate-filled manifesto, the would-be terrorist spent six hedonistic days in Prague in August and September 2010 in a failed attempt to buy illegal weapons.

By day, the man who killed 76 people in two separate attacks in Norway July 22 hit up Prague's tourist attractions. By night, he went partying, had sex and searched for guns.

Breivik's 1,500-page manifesto titled "2083 - A European Declaration of Independence" offered a detailed description of his road trip to the Czech Republic to "establish a weapons connection" in Prague. He was hoping to obtain an AK-47 assault rifle, a 9 mm Glock pistol, grenades and ammunition in the city he said was known for being "maybe the most important transit point for illicit drugs and weapons in Europe."

"My encounter with the criminal networks in Prague will not go without risk," Breivik wrote. "I can't say I'm looking forward to this trip. I've heard that Prague is the most dangerous capital in Europe with a lot of very brutal and cynical criminals. There is a chance I'll get killed down there by some desperate criminal individual."

Norwegian diplomat on the July 22 attacks

Tijana Nilsen, deputy head of mission for the Norwegian Embassy in Prague, responded to some questions on the recent terror attacks.  
What has the reaction been here? The embassy has received many phone calls from Czech nationals and diplomatic missions seated in Prague. We have received over 50 e-mails expressing condolences, and they continue coming. There were flowers delivered to the embassy already Saturday morning. The reaction has been of grief and sympathy, which we appreciate and cherish.
Are there lessons to be learned at this stage? It is early to speak about lessons learned. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said Norway will never give up its values and will show even more democracy, more openness and more humanity after the attacks - but never naiveté. That means we will have to work harder to fight violent extremism in all its forms, in Norway, Europe and across the world.
Norway is known as an open place. Could these events make it more closed? In a way, Norway is different already, but all the strengths can and will be used to change Norway in a direction people themselves decide, and not guided by those responsible for these tragic events. To quote Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store, "The Norway that you meet tomorrow will be recognizable. We will stand up for the values that made the island of Utoya possible. The Labour Youth Movement has expressed very clearly that we will take Utoya back. The nature of Norwegian democracy will not change. Norway will continue to stand for engagement in the world where we commit our resources and our convictions."
Will events like this bring society closer together? Norwegian society already has been brought together in common pain and shock. Every comment I have heard throughout the Norwegian political scene, every comment on social media and TV, has pointed out the importance of holding together, protecting the open way we live our lives, protecting our democratic values and protecting the multicultural society that Norway is today. I sincerely hope this tragic event will contribute to reducing the appeal of right-wing extremism in Norway, but also across Europe.

- Benjamin Cunningham

Breivik, 32, has admitted to the bombing in Oslo's executive government quarter that killed eight and wounded several others, as well as the subsequent shooting rampage on Utoya Island - about 30 kilometers northwest of Oslo - that had left a confirmed 68 dead as of press time. Original estimates put the death toll for the shootings at the youth political camp at 86, but authorities dropped that number considerably July 25 when it was discovered some bodies had been counted twice.

Breivik appeared in a closed Oslo courtroom July 25 and told a judge he committed the atrocities in order to save Norway from ruin, but denied he was guilty of a crime. Judge Kim Heger also told journalists after the hearing that Breivik suggested he may not have acted alone, contradicting earlier statements and prompting additional investigations by authorities. If convicted, Breivik will likely serve only 21 years in prison, the maximum sentence available in the Norwegian justice system.

As court proceedings began, authorities were still trying to determine what caused the conservative, right-wing extremist to act so violently, and portions of his manifesto point to his time in Prague as a crucial planning period for what he referred to as his "operation."

In late August 2010, after taking a ferry from Oslo to the German port city of Kiel, Breivik drove his "really crap" Hyundai Atos nine hours to Prague, where he hoped to locate an arms connection "via taxi drivers and/or through the clubbing/prostitution scene. I just hope to make it out alive." According to Breivik, he had hollowed out the seats of his car in order to smuggle any weapons he obtained back into Norway.

He recounted his trip without mentioning dates, only indicating he booked six days in a hostel, arriving in August and leaving in September.

"I did screw two girls in Prague," he wrote. "But that was mainly because it was a realistic chance that I would end up dead during the process of establishing a weapons connection."

Authorities in Prague have said they are cooperating with Norwegian police while simultaneously investigating Breivik's claims locally. However, police spokesman Jan Melša said Breivik's views on the Czech weapons market were greatly exaggerated.

"The Czech Republic is definitely not one of the countries where dealing arms would regularly take place," he said.  

After a few days in Prague, Breivik apparently began to realize buying illegal weapons was not as easy as he thought and considered aborting his mission to return to Norway, where he eventually legally purchased the weapons he used to carry out the attack.

"I failed miserably yesterday," he wrote. "I went to two brothels and a couple of clubs. The people I approached got really nervous and thought I was either a cop or completely nuts, lol. I have had to refine my approach pitch."

He later decided Prague was "far from the ideal city" to buy arms, but considered his trip a "great vacation."

"I have now decided to abort this sub-mission and rather focus on acquiring the weapons I need, legally, back in Norway," he wrote.

The manifesto jumps back and forth between rambling journal entries and detailed musings - riddled with footnotes - of Breivik's political beliefs, assembling a theory that Muslims and immigrants, as well as pro-European Union politicians and multiculturalists, are plotting to destroy Christianity in Europe.

One of the footnotes cites a March 2006 report from The Prague Post about the Czech Muslim community ("ČTV documentary angers Muslims," News, March 1-7, 2006). He frequently quoted President Václav Klaus, a noted Euroskeptic, to support his own hypothesis that EU policies are allowing Europe to be "overrun by barbarians," which, according to Breivik, includes Muslims and other immigrants.

Klaus, who is on a state visit to Australia, condemned the attacks through a spokesperson and has not commented on his inclusion in Breivik's diatribe.

The manifesto's Czech connection was also evident in Breivik's references to the controversial Beneš Decrees, which were drafted by Czechoslovak President-in-exile Edvard Beneš in the German occupation of Czechoslovakia during World War II and are widely seen to have sanctioned the deportation of more than 3 million ethnic Germans from the Sudetenland. Breivik suggested European nations may consider doing the same to the growing Muslim population in Western Europe.

"The Sudeten Germans ... had shown themselves to be a dangerous fifth column without any loyalty to the state," he wrote. "The Czech government thus expelled them from its land. There is a much better case for a Beneš Decree for parts of the Muslim population in the West now than there ever was for the Sudeten Germans."

More on this story: Islamophobia surfaces closer to home - Group opposing a Muslim gathering space received backing with taxpayer money Word on the Street: Norway terror - Could something like the July 22 attacks in Norway happen here?

Jack Buehrer can be reached at
jbuehrer@praguepost.com