Bomb Explosion in Oslo, Norway

This article was emailed to me yesterday from Mr. David Ford of ABC News. Thank you!!! Lynn

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/oslo-explosion-blast-result-massive-vehicle-bomb-sources/story?id=14134197

Oslo Explosion: One of Two Blasts Result of Massive Vehicle Bomb, Sources Say

By BRIAN ROSS (@brianross) and LEE FERRAN
July 22, 2011

At least one of two explosions that rocked a Norwegian government building in Oslo today was result of a massive vehicle bomb, according to U.S. government sources on the scene.

Law enforcement officials told ABC News there were two blasts at the Norwegian capital and Norwegian news reported at least two people were killed. Several more were injured.

The prime minister, whose office is in the building, survived the blast, a government spokesperson told The Associated Press.
Pictures, posted on Twitter, show several buildings with windows blown out. Multiple tweets described people bleeding in the streets. Law enforcement officials said

No group has publicly taken responsibility for the blast and a U.S. counter-terrorism official told ABC News there is no indication yet of motive or suspects. A senior U.S. diplomat in Oslo said they believe all U.S. personnel in the country are safe and accounted for.

Earlier this month, a Norwegian prosecutor filed terrorism charges against an Iraqi-born cleric who had allegedly threatened the lives of Norwegian politicians. Mullah Krekar, the founder of the Kurdish Islamist group Ansar al-Islam, said in a news conference in 2010 that if he was deported from Norway he would be killed and, therefore, Norwegian politicians deserved the same fate, according to an AP report. The Norwegian government had considered deporting Krekar because he was seen as a national security threat.

Prior to the Iraq War, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell said Ansar al-Islam was the "sinister nexus between Iraq and the al Qaeda terrorist network."

In 2009, the U.S. State Department said in a report that Norwegian authorities believed the probability of a terror attack there to be "low" and the public believe Norway "was not in danger of attack."

ABC News' Matthew Mosk, Matthew Cole, Martha Raddatz and Kirit Radia contributed to this report.

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