By IANS,
London : Scotland Yard has been asked to help probe the massacre in Norway that left at least 92 people dead and more than 90 wounded.
Scotland Yard counter-terrorism chief, Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick, has been asked to send specialist officers to join a new European task force dedicated to investigating Europe-wide far-right links to the bomb attack in Oslo and the shooting on Utoya island, Sky News reported.
Anders Behring Breivik, a 32-year-old Norwegian, has admitted carrying out the attack but denies criminal responsibility.
Breivik is believed to have been motivated by extreme right-wing ideology.
The request for special British officers to aid the Norway probe was made by the European law enforcement agency Europol.
“As soon as it happened we opened our operational centre to connect the investigation with an international platform of counter terrorism analysts,” Rob Wainwright, Europol director of operations, was quoted as saying.
Wainwright said the attacks had taken authorities by surprise.
“It has taken a lot of people by surprise. We’ve been monitoring the right-wing extremists in Europe for many years. There is an active scene but until now there has been a fairly low intensity level of violence.
“The threat of jihadi terrorism is still out there. It is still a real and substantial threat, but of course at the same time we have to monitor other possible terrorist activities,” he said.