Lawyer Says Norway Gunman May Be 'Insane'

The lawyer for the gunman behind last week's attacks in Norway laid out his feelings about the case and his client Tuesday, painting a picture of a cold and paranoid "warrior" who appears to be insane.

"This whole case indicates that he's insane," Geir Lippestad said about Anders Behring Breivik, who has claimed responsibility for Friday's bomb attack on the Oslo government and subsequent shooting spree on a nearby island.

"He believes that he is in a war. And he believes that when you are in a war you can do things like that without pleading guilty," the lawyer told AFPTV of the 32-year-old Norwegian who wants to bring about an anti-Muslim revolution.

"He's in his bubble," Lippestad added, also revealing his own personal anguish over taking the job of defending the man behind the worst massacre in Norway since WWII.

If his client is adjudged medically insane after blowing up eight people in Oslo and shooting dead 68 mainly youth members of the Labor Party on Utoeya island, Lippestad said: "He can't be punished in a jail."

Paving the way for a defense that could see his client escape prison, Lippestad said Behring Breivik "has a view on reality that is very, very difficult to explain."

He said his client used unspecified drugs to make himself "strong, efficient, to keep him awake" going into Friday's rampage.

"He thought he'd be killed after the bombing, after the action on the island, and he also thought he'd be killed at trial," Lippestad said.

In fact, "he was a little bit surprised that he succeeded, that in his mind he succeeded," Lippestad added.

Asked whether Behring Breivik had shown any empathy for his mainly young victims, Lippestad said: "No."

Behring Breivik wrote a 1,500-page manifesto entitled "2083 - A European Declaration of Independence" which he published just before starting his bombing and shooting spree.

"He believes this war will continue for 60 years and in 60 years this war will be won," Lippestad said of the events his client believes he has triggered, preparations for which are painstakingly chronicled in the tract.

Despite expecting to be killed, Lippestad said his client was not surprised that it took police around an hour to arrive on the island to arrest him, something for which Norwegian police have been criticized.

Behring Breivik said he was part of an organization that has two cells in Norway and several others abroad. "Where I don't know," Lippestad said.

"He looks on himself as a warrior and he has started this war," Lippestad said, adding that one of the reasons Behring Breivik's first court appearance on Monday was behind closed doors was for fear he would send coded signals to other cells.

His client was disappointed that the hearing was not open to the public, Lippestad said.

"He says that he's sorry he had to do this but it was necessary to start the revolution," and that's why while admitting responsibility he does not plead guilty.

"He hates anyone who believes in democracy.

"My point of view is that he's a very cold person."

Behring Breivik's state of mind is "very difficult to explain", the lawyer said. While in detention he is eating normally but "I can't say that he's happy."

The lawyer said he did not know when the trial would start, but that in Norway "it normally takes six to 12 months."

"It will be a long court case," he said.

Lippestad said he did not know why Behring Breivik had chosen him as his lawyer and revealed that he himself was a member of the Labor Party that was targeted by Friday's attacks.

"My goal is to handle this case in a very professional manner," he said, acknowledging that he felt personal pressure because of the case and that he had hesitated to take it on.

"My first reaction was that this is too difficult," Lippestad said.

He then discussed the issue with his family and decided it was "time to think of democracy".

Despite the national trauma caused by the July 22 attacks, Lippestad voiced his confidence in Norway's judiciary.

"No one is not influenced by this, but he will get a fair trial."

Lippestad declined to say whether he had received any threats since agreeing to defend the killer, but said he had no fear of being attacked.

"There's ... well ... lots of loving and caring people and I can just walk in the street and I can sit down in a cafe and some people come over to me and talk to me. We live in a special country and I'm very proud of that."