July 30, 2011 - 17:27 AMT
Breivik planned to attack the royal palace

The confessed perpetrator of the Oslo and Utøya attacks, Anders Behring Breivik, planned to attack the royal palace and the Labour Party’s headquarters in central Oslo as well as other locations that would “hit the government,” the Norwegian police have revealed.

Newspaper VG reports that Breivik confirmed his plans during questioning by the police. The police, speaking through spokesperson Pal-Fredrik Hjort Kraby, believe that the palace was a symbolic target and that Breivik had no intention of killing any individual that could be found at the royal residence.

Hjort Kraby told VG that Breivik had several further targets for terrorist attacks, but could not manage all of them because of logistical problems. The spokesperson would not elaborate further on the details of these problems but VG believes that they revolve around the difficulty of setting off several devices in different locations at once. In addition to the palace, the Labour Party’s offices in the capital, found in Youngstorget square, are known to have been among the other potential goals of his terrorist actions. Like many buildings in Youngstorget, which is a short distance from the bombed government quarter, the Labour Party’s offices received minor damage from the blast in the form of broken windows.

Breivik’s lawyer, Geir Lippestad, confirmed the fact that his client had “both A and B plans” when speaking to newspaper Dagbladet, adding that the attacks he carried out were “probably the B plan,” Views and News from Norway reports.