First hints of Islamic connection in Oslo attack



The first hints that Islamic extremists might be behind the Oslo attacks are starting to trickle out:

The U.K. Telegraph notes (without any elaboration) that

18.03 Will McCants now says that Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami (Helpers of Global Jihad) seem to make a claim of responsibility. They claim it is in response to the occupation of Afghanistan and insults to the Prophet Mohammed. It has come via Shmukh, an elite jihadi forum

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Next: British Journalist Sean Rayment notes on his Twitter feed that

Olso newspaper offices possibley attacked in bomb blast for reprinting cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed last year.

And lastly, a personal observation:

As noted in my earlier PJM post about the Mohammed Image Archive, which I host at my own web site zombietime, I get a continuous stream of death threats from Muslims angry about all the uncensored pictures of Mohammed displayed in the Archive. In recent months, as the topic has faded from the news, the stream has dwindled down to just a few per week, but suddenly this morning, I received several all in a row, just minutes after the Oslo explosion. Here’s a typical one:

Hey Bitch Son
Listen
Delete This Page other Wise I kill u with find u …

this is a not warning its realy i am giving just 1day otherwise

i will kill ur tottaly family

ok

maaadar Chod Randi ki aulad

Coincidence? Who knows.

UPDATE:

The Guardian also reports:

A terror group, Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami (the Helpers of the Global Jihad), issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, according to Will McCants, a terrorism analyst at CNA, a research institute that studies terrorism. The message said the attack was a response to Norwegian forces’ presence in Afghanistan and to unspecified insults to the Prophet Muhammad. “We have warned since the Stockholm raid of more operations,” the group said, apparently referred to a bombing in Sweden in December 2010, according to Mr McCants’ translation. “What you see is only the beginning, and there is more to come.” The claim could not be confirmed.

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The New York Times also cites the claim, but says it is “unconfirmed.”

UPDATE II:

Jihad Watch has much more on Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami: now they’re saying this isn’t the “official” claim of credit, which will in fact come later. And Robert Spencer has a rough translation of their actual full declaration, something which no other news outlet has:

Praise be to Allah from his slaves, united and humiliating the people of shirk [worship of others besides Allah] and companions of kufr [unbelief]. Prayers and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets, his family and companions and descendents.

Today Norway has been targeted in order to be a lesson, and a lesson to the rest of Europe. We have warned since the Stockholm raid of more operations and we have demanded that European countries of Europe withdraw their armies from the land of Afghanistan and end their war on Islam and Muslims. We repeat our warning again to the countries of Europe and tell them that the demands of the mujahideen must be carried out. What you see is only the beginning. There will be more.

There were many reasons for the targeting of Norway. The most important is their participation in the occupation of Afghanistan and the abuse of our prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

Praise Allah who has enabled his slaves to be united…and pray to Allah to save our brothers and our fighters everywhere.

Go to the Jihad Watch post to see Spencer’s full translation.

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UPDATE III:

For those who know Arabic and want to try their hands at a translation of your own, Jihadica has posted the original Arabic-language Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami declaration, copied and pasted directly from the jihadist forum.

UPDATE IV:

British tabloid The Sun now raises the death toll to 32 and also has far and away the most amazing and informative gallery of photos from both terror attack sites. They also give extra details about the Utoya shooter:

It is believed the gunman, said to be blond, blue-eyed and at least 6ft tall, arrived at the tiny island by boat. He was arrested after being shot and wounded.

Meanwhile, Michelle Malkin details some of the recent conflicts between Norway and Muslims, as a backgrounder for those who didn’t know that Norway could very well be high on the list of possible terror targets.

UPDATE V:

Left-leaning Wonkette cites the blond Utoya Island shooter as reason enough to start mocking “wingnuts” for falsely speculating about an Islamic connection:

U.S. Wingnuts Ready To Pretend-Attack Norway Bombers/Shooters

Nobody knows what’s really going on in Oslo or at the holiday camp island in Norway where a bombing and a shooting have left many people dead, but it’s always safe for American Idiots on the Internet to jump in with a suspect (“Muslims”) and a verdict (“guilty”) and a list of co-conspirators (“Obama and the liberals”) and a punishment (“kill ‘em all”). No matter that a tall blond man of “Norwegian appearance” and wearing a police uniform is described as the shooter on Norway’s Utoya Island — thee muslins are increasingly able to appear as whatever people or things they want to appear as….

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Elsewhere, for reasons I seriously can’t figure, this Tatler post, despite being nothing more than a round-up of links to other sites, is now the #4 link on the top Memeorandum thread. Not that I’m complaining, but shouldn’t the top links be reserved for sites that have first-hand information?

UPDATE VI:

If this terror attack does turn out to have a confirmed Islamic connection, this detail may be in the running for an Irony of the Year award:

The Utoya victims had attended a political workshop on how to combat “xenophobia” and “Islamophobia” in Norway:

TO FIGHT AGAINST XENOPHOBIA

– To constantly be suspicion and rejection of a society does something to you, told Dagbladet’s Marte Michelet debate editor of a political workshop at Utøya.

Michelet opened to a packed hall on integration and immigration policy. She used her own laws as an example of how it is to be an asylum seeker to come to a new country. She expressed concern about the increasingly living pure Islamophobia that will dominate the public immigration debate.

– Previously, the majority agreed with the AUF. Majority community must adapt so that minorities feel welcome. Today it is becoming more acceptable to blame the immigrants and argue that any lack of integration is their own fault.
In her introduction she also warned against the blåbrune right parties that have gained considerable influence in European politics.

– After the Berlin Wall’s fall was Islamophobia the dominant form of European racism. The more unacceptable form of general racism, was linked to the Muslims. “They can not integrate. They lack manners. They’ll just exploit our welfare system. They are potential terrorists. ” All of this is found in the online debates in all matters relating to integration and immigration, she said.

Utøya Labour Youth summer camp

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The participants had also attended lectures encouraging them to be more pro-Palestine/pro-Hamas and more anti-Israel.

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