Why would terrorists strike Oslo?

“More hidden terrorists in Norway

The Algerians arrested in Italy are not the only potential terrorists in Norway, security forces said Thursday.

AV Jonathan Tisdall  

"We know that there are persons in Norway today that can be linked to the terrorist network abroad," Martin Bernsen, information adviser at the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) told Aftenposten.no.

The PST will not disclose how many persons they are referring to, or how many different nationalities are involved.

Bernsen denied that the PST was not aware of the suspects arrested by Italian police on suspicion of terrorism, as Norwegian news agency NTB reported on Thursday.

"We knew about this case in advance. More than that we cannot say," Bernsen said.

Asked if the PST had cooperated with Italian police in this matter, Bernsen would only say that the PST has a close cooperation with the security services of other Nordic and some European nations.

Bernsen said that the PST considered the threat level in Norway to be unchanged at 'moderate' after the arrests in Italy.”

“Breaking News Alert: Bomb caused deadly explosion in Oslo, police say 
July 22, 2011 12:41:13 PM

The powerful explosion that tore open several Oslo buildings, including the prime minister’s office, on Friday, killing at least one person, was caused by a bomb, a Norwegian news agency said, citing police accounts.

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg is safe, government spokeswoman Camilla Ryste told the Associated Press.

http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/...A1MJ/E4/h”

“Norway's al-Qaeda Arrests: Terrorism's Changing Face

By Bruce Crumle

“The arrests of suspected al-Qaeda supporters in Europe this week illustrate the evolving challenge authorities face in identifying and keeping watch over terrorism suspects, as radicals from increasingly disparate backgrounds gather in smaller, overlapping cells.

Officials in Norway on Thursday, July 8, said they have arrested three men with ties to al-Qaeda suspected of "preparing terror activities." It was unclear if their targets were to be in Norway or elsewhere. The men — one of whom was apprehended in Germany — were described as two legal Norwegian residents and a naturalized citizen. They are thought to have been planning bombing attacks similar to — and apparently linked to — last September's averted suicide strike on the New York City subway system. On Wednesday, British police arrested a man suspected of involvement in what authorities revealed had been a plan thwarted in April 2009 to bomb downtown Manchester, in northern England. U.S. officials said the Manchester and New York City plots were "directly related," and initial indicators suggest the Norwegian operation was connected to those as well.

Read more: http://www.time.com/...2541,00.html#ixzz1SrCfiAyU”