Norway police apologizes for slow response to Breivik massacreMarch 16, 2012 - 19:53 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Norwegian police have apologised for delays in their response to the massacre of 69 young people by right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik last July, admitting that lives could have been saved if they had intervened more quickly, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. "On behalf of the Norwegian police I want to apologise that we did not arrest [him] sooner," the national Police Commissioner, Oeystein Maeland, said in a statement released with a report that evaluated the incident. "Every minute was a minute too long … It is hard, knowing that so many lives could have been spared if the perpetrator had been arrested sooner." The chief of the police district where the massacre occurred, Sissel Hammer, said police "theoretically" could have shortened Breivik's attack by 16 minutes if the response had been perfect. Breivik set off a 950 kilogram bomb outside government buildings in central Oslo, killing eight people, before he went to the island of Utoya where he killed another 69, most of them teenagers at a summer camp. Breivik, who has since been given a hotly challenged diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, claimed to be on a crusade against the "Islamisation" of Europe. His mental state is being re-evaluated and his trial is due to start on April 16. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Concept to complete Yerevan Cascade discussed at city hall A conceptual proposal to complete the Cascade complex in downtown Yerevan has been presented by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Pashinyan visits flood-hit region Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday, June 8 visited the disaster area in the Lori province. €3.5 mln EU grant to support justice reforms in Armenia The European Union has paid €3.5 mln grant to Armenia within a €11mln program on Support to Justice Reforms. Yerevan reacts to Baku’s proposal to see Minsk Group abolition Alen Simonyan has declared that Armenia is taking steps aimed at concluding a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. |