Breivik Apologises To 'Non-Political' Victims

Norway gunman Anders Behring Breivik has apologised to those he called the "non-political" victims of his Oslo bombing - but not to those he killed in the Utoya massacre.

The right-wing extremist, who has confessed to slaughtering 77 people last July, gave his final day of testimony in an Oslo court.

Breivik said he wanted to apologise for killing and injuring "innocent" people in the car bombing in the capital's government quarter.

Eight people died in that attack.

"I would like to offer a large apology," Breivik said.

He said sorry to the family of a pub owner who died in the blast, saying it was not his intention to kill "civilians".

When prosecutor Enga Bejer Engh asked if he could say the same to any of the 69 people he slaughtered in his shooting massacre on nearby Utoya island, Breivik said: "No, I do not."

Breivik also insisted that not only his victims and their families had their lives ruined by the attacks: "I also lost everything," he told the court.

On the sixth day of his trial, he reiterated that the youngsters attending a summer camp hosted by the ruling Labour Party's youth wing on Utoya island were "legitimate targets".

Showing no emotion, he described them as "political activists" working for the "deconstruction of Norwegian society".

He said he considered Utoya island a "political indoctrination camp".

"This is a small barbarity to avoid a larger barbarity," Breivik told the court.

He said he knew what he had done and understood he had ruined the lives of many people, but had "decided not to absorb this... in order to survive".

Calling the rampage "cruel but necessary", Breivik compared being shunned by those close to him to the grief of the bereaved.

"The only difference was that for my part it was a choice," he said.

He stressed the shooting spree had been a "gruesome" experience for him as well, and that he had to force himself to carry it out since it felt so "against human nature".

It was almost like "being asked to eat a plate of excrement," Breivik said.

Asked why he spared one man who survived the shooting spree, Breivik said he thought it was because the man's appearance made him look "right wing-oriented".

"When I looked at him I saw myself," Breivik said.

"I think that was the reason that I didn't fire shots at him."

Breivik also said he did not think he would make it to Utoya island, saying he was 95% sure he would die in Oslo's government quarter.

Jon Hestnes, who represents survivors and families of the victims, described Breivik's apology as surprising and insincere.

"I think it was pathetic. It doesn't help that he said that," he told public broadcaster NRK.

"There was no expression in his body language showing that he meant what he said."

Breivik himself insists he is sane, and accuses the prosecutors of trying to make him look irrational.

He said that no one would have asked for a psychiatric examination had he been a "bearded jihadist".

"But because I am a militant nationalist, I am being subjected to grave racism," he said.

"They are trying to delegitimise everything I stand for."

Breivik also became defensive as prosecutors quizzed him about sections of the 1,500-page manifesto he posted online before the attacks.

It describes uniforms, medals, greetings and codes of conduct for the Knights Templar militant group that he claims to belong to.

Prosecutors do not believe it exists.In one section, read by prosecutor Svein Holden, Breivik speculated that in his future society, the loyalty of potential knights might be tested by asking them to undergo surgical amputation and castration.

Breivik chastised the prosecutor for what he called "low blows" and said the segment was taken out of context.

He had originally been scheduled to testify Monday about his sanity, which is the main issue of contention during the 10-week trial.

But that was delayed so he could finish testifying about Utoya.

Breivik also gave a "speech" from memory that he was planning to read before beheading former prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland on Utoya.

Last week, Breivik told the court he wanted to murder Ms Brundtland, who was visiting the island, video her execution and post it on the internet.