EU to widen terror targets to 'lone-wolves', far-right
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EU terrorism experts on Thursday said Norway's 'near impossible to prevent' bloodbath underlined the need for stronger counter-terror action, both against 'lone wolves' and all forms of extremism.
"As the Oslo attacks have shown once again, terrorism has nothing to do with any particular religion or belief," said European Union anti-terrorism officials at an extraordinary meeting called to discuss the carnage in Norway.
Poland, which holds the rotating EU presidency, called the talks to start 'drawing the lessons of this tragedy' by looking at existing tools against terrorism, and mulling new ones.
But EU officials said after being briefed by Norwegian counterparts that Anders Behring Brievik's rampage, which he justified as an act to save the Western world from a Muslim invasion, would have been hard to prevent.
"This was a very difficult if not impossible event to have stopped," said Tim Jones, advisor to EU counter-terrorism chief Gilles de Kerchove.
"He went to very great lengths."
The issue of 'lone-wolf terrorism' - terrorists with no known links to groups who draw their ideas through the Internet - 'seems to require increasing attention', the experts said.
Jones said the 27-nation bloc needed to press ahead with plans to curb arms sales as well as a proposal to monitor sales of chemical substances such as those in the fertiliser used in the Oslo bombing.
European states too needed to place more focus on understanding the psychological trigger to terrorism.
"Lots of people have extreme ideas but few translate them into action," he said.
To that effect, the EU in September is to launch a radicalisation awareness network bringing together youth leaders, police officers and social workers to spot potential terrorists.
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