Anti-terror police fends off critics

The head of Norway’s police intelligence unit PST (Politiets Sikkerhetstjeneste) has struck back against a critical report from a commission appointed by the government in the wake of the July 22 terror attacks in 2011, claiming the report includes “unfounded accusations” and factual errors. PST boss Marie Benedicte Bjørnland questioned this week what grounds the [...]

Silent alarm rang at Oslo airports

The public wasn’t informed, but all three airports serving the greater Oslo area – Norway’s gateway airport OSL at Gardermoen plus Rygge at Moss and Torp at Sandefjord – were put under high alert for around a week last fall because of  threatened terrorist attacks. Only now are Norwegian authorities confirming the terror alarm. “It’s [...]

Statoil honours its terror victims

Five flags hung at half-mast outside Bergen’s historic Håkons Hall on Monday, as Statoil chief executive Helge Lund and Norway’s oil minister Ola Borten Moe honoured the state oil company’s five employees who were killed in last month’s terrorist attack on a gas plant in Algeria. Lund called the attacks “unfair and meaningless.” His voice [...]

Terrorist files charges against prison

The Norwegian terrorist who killed 77 people in twin attacks in 2011 has officially reported the director of Ila Prison and the Norwegian Minister of Justice and Public Security to the police for violating his human rights. Anders Behring Breivik, who has three cells at his disposal in a specially high-security unit at the prison, [...]

Statoil mourns all its five victims

The last of the missing employees of Norwegian state oil company Statoil who were among hostages held in a terrorist attack in Algeria on January 16 was confirmed dead at the end of the week, as the caskets of his four colleagues were brought back to Norway. A memorial ceremony is planned for next week [...]

Statoil wants to stay in Algeria

Norwegian state-owned oil company Statoil intends to continue operations in Algeria after a gas processing plant was attacked there earlier this month by radical Islamists, killing 37 foreign workers. Calls have gone out, meanwhile, for an independent review of whether security at the plant was good enough. As part of the review of what happened [...]

Family reports Bhatti missing

The family of Arfan Bhatti, who had a long record of criminal convictions in Norway before he became a radical Islamist and traveled to the Middle East last fall, has reported him missing after not hearing from him since January 7. Another Norwegian jihadist is missing as well, and three who traveled to Syria to [...]

Four hostages confirmed dead

UPDATED: Four of the five missing employees of Norwegian state oil company Statoil who were among those taken hostage in Algeria on January 16 are now confirmed to have been killed. One of their colleagues still has not been found and is feared dead as well. Statoil had announced Friday evening that the situation remained [...]

Profits rule over risks and ethics

NEWS ANALYSIS: Major Norwegian companies seem more than willing to take risks and downplay ethical concerns to continue doing business in troubled areas abroad. Backed by supportive and often cooperative government officials, even Norway’s royal family at times, Norwegian executives are active in hot spots from Algeria and Azerbaijan to Yemen because of the potential [...]

Stoltenberg: ‘No decision’ on Mali

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who’s won more praise for his handling of last week’s hostage crisis, won’t be sending Norwegian soldiers to Mali any time soon. His government is still weighing participation in an EU- and Nordic-backed training program to aid Mali’s resistance to radical Islamists, but with a third of Norwegians opposed to involvement [...]

Questions raised over Statoil’s risk

Norwegian state-owned oil company Statoil underestimated the risk of operating in Algeria, claims a former Statoil board member. His claim, made a week after terrorists attacked an Algerian gas plant partly operated by Statoil, raises questions over the company’s risk disclosure, while other concerns rose over reports that some of the terrorists involved in the [...]

Government split over aid to Mali

Norway’s coalition government is by no means united on a proposal to send Norwegian troops to Mali, to help allies fend off an Islamist insurgency. While government ministers from the dominant Labour Party are considering joining the French-led military effort, their partners are skeptical at best. Norway’s involvement would likely be limited to participation in [...]

Norway may join the battle in Mali

Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, who’s just spent the past week dealing with a crisis involving Norwegian hostages at an Algerian gas plant, is now considering sending Norwegian troops into neighbouring Mali, where many of the hostage-takers came from. Opposition politicians in the Norwegian Parliament appear to support such a move. Eide and Defense Minister [...]

Statoil mourns as death toll rises

Algerian authorities announced Monday that 38 hostages, 37 of them foreign nationals working in Algeria, are now believed to have been killed after Islamist terrorists stormed a gas processing plant last week that was partly run by Norwegian state oil company Statoil. Five Norwegian employees at the plant who remain missing are now presumed to [...]

Norway copes with new national crisis

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg headed for Statoil’s headquarters in Stavanger on Monday, as the hostage crisis in Algeria continued to put his government and Norway’s oil industry to a new and dramatic test. With five Norwegians still missing and Statoil’s co-operated gas plant the target of last week’s terrorist attack, Stoltenberg faced an emotional meeting [...]

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