Norwegian police arrest man with weapons, explosives

Norwegian police said Sunday they had arrested a man after recovering weapons and explosives at his home, but media reports said they found no immediate link with mass-killer Anders Behring Breivik.

The suspect, known to police as a right-wing extremist, was arrested on Saturday after they discovered the weapons cache at his home near Oslo on Tuesday following an apparent threat from the man, who has not been named.

"The police have no information linking him to Breivik but, after the terrorist attacks, they did not want to take any risks and made the resources available to find this person as quickly as possible," the daily VG said.

His lawyer, Vidar Lind Iversen, said the suspect was being investigated for "possession of unauthorised weapons, possession of explosives, and making threats". Iversen told VG his client "recognises the possession of two hunting rifles".

Police said Sunday they were unable to confirm Norwegian media reports that a police uniform had been recovered in the search of the suspect's home.

VG reported that police had previously discovered weapons and explosives at the man's house in 2001, and that he was convicted of selling automatic weapons to right-wing extremists in the 1990s.

Iversen said his client "had contacts with extreme rightwing circles in the 1990s but no longer has today".

Behring Breivik disguised himself as a police officer when he carried out the July 22 attacks in Norway which killed 77 people.

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