30 Jul 2011

First funerals held in Norway

9:34 pm on 30 July 2011

The first funerals for the victims in the massacre and bomb attack in Norway were held on Friday, a week after 77 people were killed in Oslo and on the island of Utoeya.

National leaders joined relatives for a service held in Oslo by the youth wing of the Labour Party - the target of the shootings on the island.

The first funerals were those of Bano Rashid, 18, who was buried near Oslo on Friday, and of Ismail Haji Ahmed, 19, whose burial was to be held in the south-western town of Hamar.

Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere attended the funeral of Ms Rashid, a Kurdish immigrant from Iraq, in the Nesodden peninsula.

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg hailed the dead as "heroes" and said Norway's response will be "more democracy".

''Today it is one week since Norway was hit by evil,'' he said.

''We are not going to be shocked and intimidated into silence.

''The bravery that these young people have shown is catching. We're going to answer hatred with love. We're going to honour our heroes forever.''

Later, Mr Stoltenberg visited a mosque to stress national unity.

The BBC reports the names of the remaining victims, 36 in total, have now been released. Most of the dead are teenagers.

Police had previously put the total number of people known to have died at 76.

No explanation was given for the discrepancy.

Meanwhile, their killer has again been questioned detectives.

The BBC reports the investigators wanted to question him on information received over the past few days of the investigation, described by the police lawyer as "a lot".

The lawyer also said Anders Behring Breivik's demeanour was unchanged: he was calm during the interview and more than willing to explain himself.

Two psychiatrists have been appointed to assess his mental health and will report to prosecutors by 1 November.