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'Neo-Nazi' musician Vikernes in French terror arrest | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A Norwegian musician with links to mass killer Anders Behring Breivik has been arrested in France on "suspicion he was preparing a major terrorist act". | A Norwegian musician with links to mass killer Anders Behring Breivik has been arrested in France on "suspicion he was preparing a major terrorist act". |
The French interior ministry said Kristian "Varg" Vikernes constituted "a potential threat to society". | The French interior ministry said Kristian "Varg" Vikernes constituted "a potential threat to society". |
He was arrested in central France after his wife bought four rifles. | He was arrested in central France after his wife bought four rifles. |
Vikernes, described by French officials as a neo-Nazi, had in the past received a copy of a manifesto from Breivik, who killed 77 people in Norway in 2011. | Vikernes, described by French officials as a neo-Nazi, had in the past received a copy of a manifesto from Breivik, who killed 77 people in Norway in 2011. |
Breivik planted a bomb in central Oslo and went on a shooting spree on the nearby island of Utoeya in July 2011. He was imprisoned for the maximum 21-year term last year. | Breivik planted a bomb in central Oslo and went on a shooting spree on the nearby island of Utoeya in July 2011. He was imprisoned for the maximum 21-year term last year. |
An official at the Paris Prosecutor Office said Breivik sent a copy of a manifesto setting out his ideology to Vikernes, who is also a convicted murderer. | An official at the Paris Prosecutor Office said Breivik sent a copy of a manifesto setting out his ideology to Vikernes, who is also a convicted murderer. |
The official said: "There were several suspicions that made the services fear he could possibly carry out a violent act." | The official said: "There were several suspicions that made the services fear he could possibly carry out a violent act." |
Legal permit | Legal permit |
Kristian Vikernes was arrested along with his wife, a French national, in Correze, a region in central France. | Kristian Vikernes was arrested along with his wife, a French national, in Correze, a region in central France. |
Police sources said officers were searching their home for weapons and explosives. | Police sources said officers were searching their home for weapons and explosives. |
Officials say Vikernes' wife had a legal firearms permit when she bought the four rifles. | Officials say Vikernes' wife had a legal firearms permit when she bought the four rifles. |
Vikernes, a black-metal musician and writer known as Varg, was convicted in 1994 of stabbing a man to death in Oslo and burning down several churches. | |
He was released in 2009 and moved to France with his wife and three children. | He was released in 2009 and moved to France with his wife and three children. |
On his website, Vikernes discusses Breivik's manifesto, but also criticises him for killing innocent Norwegians. | On his website, Vikernes discusses Breivik's manifesto, but also criticises him for killing innocent Norwegians. |
Breivik's 1,500-page manifesto outlined his planned crusade against Muslims, who he said "were taking over Europe and could only be defeated through a violent civil war". | Breivik's 1,500-page manifesto outlined his planned crusade against Muslims, who he said "were taking over Europe and could only be defeated through a violent civil war". |
'Darkness' | |
Kristian 'Varg' Vikernes founded the one-man music project called "Burzum" in the early 1990s, which soon became a fixture of Norway's black metal scene. | |
The word "burzum" means "darkness" in the Black Speech, a fictional language crafted by JRR Tolkien. | |
"In 1991, 18-year-old guitarist Varg Vikernes founded one of Norwegian black metal's most important bands upon a simple, yet powerful, platform: to bring darkness into the world," the magazine Guitar World wrote in 2010 after interviewing him. | |
But he soon became involved in violent crime. In 1992, he took part in the arson of at least three churches in Norway. | |
The following year, he stabbed to death his friend, fellow Norwegian guitarist Oeystein "Euronymous" Aarseth whom he played with him in the black metal band Mayhem. | |
Vikernes was given Norway's maximum 21-year sentence and released from prison in 2009 after serving 16 years. | |
Since then he has continued releasing music and writing. | |
Through his writings he promotes what he calls "Odalism", an ideology based on the idea that White Europeans should re-adopt "native European values". | |
It includes racism, anti-Semitism and elements of ethnic European paganism. |