Oslo bomb suspect, Anders Behring Breivik, bought 6 tonnes of fertiliser says supplier

Witnesses said the gunman, identified by police as a 32-year-old Norwegian, moved across the small, wooded island of Utoeya in a lake northwest of Oslo on Friday (July 22), firing at young people who scattered in panic or tried to swim to safety.

Police detained the tall, blond suspect, named by local media as Anders Behring Breivik, and charged him for the killing spree and the bombing of government buildings in Oslo.

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, capturing the shock this normally quiet nation of 4.8 million is experiencing, said: "Tonight it became clear that what happened at AUF (Workers Youth League) summer camp yesterday at Utoaya is a national tragedy. Not since the war has our country experienced a worse thing. At least 80 young people have died and seven colleagues in the government buildings. It is unbelievable, it is like a nightmare."

Stoltenberg later flew by helicopter to a hotel in the town of Sundvollen where many survivors were taken for counselling and police interviews. Relatives converged on the hotel.

After Stoltenberg's arrival, police detained and handcuffed a man outside the hotel. The man told reporters he had been stopped because he had a knife in his pocket.

Deputy Police Chief Roger Andresen would not speculate on the motives for what was believed to be the deadliest attack by a lone gunman anywhere in modern times, but said that Breivik described himself as a Christian, leaning toward right-wing christianity, on his Facebook page.

Norwegian media say the Oslo bomb was made of fertiliser and that the suspect owned a company, Breivik Geofarm, which a supply firm said he had used to buy the material.

A spokeswoman for a farm supply chain, Felleskjoepet Estenstad told Reuters that 6 tonnes of fertilizer was delivered to Breivik's farm on May 4 - a normal sized order for a standard agricultural producer.

Breivik's Facebook page appeared to have been blocked by late Friday. Earlier, it had listed interests including bodybuilding, conservative politics and freemasonry.

Norwegian media said he had set up a Twitter account a few days ago and posted a single message on July 17 saying: "One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who have only interests."

About 10 policemen were outside the address registered to his name in a four-storey red brick building in west Oslo.

The Norwegian daily Verdens Gang quoted a friend as saying he became a right-wing extremist in his late 20s. It said he expressed strong nationalistic views in online debates and had been a strong opponent of multi-cultural ism.

Oslo was quiet but tense after Friday's mid-afternoon bombing which broke the windows of the prime minister's building and damaged the finance and oil ministry buildings.

The district attacked is the heart of power in Norway. But security is not tight in a country unused to such violence and better known for awarding the Nobel Peace Prize and mediating in conflicts, including the Middle East and Sri Lanka.

Initial speculation after the Oslo blast had focused on Islamist militant groups, but it appears that only Breivik -- and perhaps unidentified associates -- was involved.

Home-grown right-wing militancy has generated occasional attacks elsewhere, notably in the United States, where Timothy McVeigh killed 168 people with a truck bomb at a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995.