Lethal Oslo Bombing: Who Are The Suspects?

Although Scandinavian countries have reputations as liberal havens, there is a long list of groups with grievances who could have carried out the lethal bombing in the centre of Oslo.

Sky News security editor Sam Kiley pointed out that the target - offices of the Government in the centre of town - made it likely that the bomber or bombers were seeking to make a political point rather than kill the maximum number of people.

"This was not an attack on something more vulnerable such as a railway or a crowded shopping mall, this was an attack at the heart of the Norwegian body politic," he said.

"It is clearly designed to send a very powerful political message."

He said groups including the Tamil Tigers and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula had cause to hold a grudge against Norwegian authorities.

Norway has also been very active in the Nato-led operation against Muammar Gaddafi's forces in Libya, and has sent troops to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan.

At home, Kiley said, authorities have - like those in Britain - been trying to get immigrants to the country to conform more to the Norwegian way of life amid concerns home-grown terrorists may pose a threat.

Two suspects are currently in a Norwegian jail awaiting charges relating to a suspected al Qaeda-style terror plot.

Last week, a prosecutor there filed terror charges against an Iraqi-born cleric for threatening Norwegian politicians with death if he is deported.

The indictment followed statements made by Mullah Krekar, the founder of Kurdish Islamist group Ansar al Islam, to various news media outfits.

Kiley added that if it were proven that a car bomb or bombs had caused the devastation it would point security services in the direction of those behind it.

"A car bomb can deliver a very large amount of home-made explosive," he said.

"You could probably get at least a tonne of high explosive in it and you also have the secondary explosive of the fuel in the car.

"It can be an absolutely devastating weapon."