Breivik: Killer Asks To Attend Mother's Funeral

Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik has asked for permission to attend the funeral of his mother, it has emerged.

The murderer, who killed 77 teenagers and adults in a shooting spree and a bomb attack in 2011, is waiting to hear whether the authorities will approve.

His mother Wenche Behring Breivik died on Friday after suffering a long illness. She was 66.

Breivik and his mother met earlier this month at Ila Prison, where the convicted killer is being held. They said goodbye to each other then.

Tord Jordet, Breivik's lawyer, said: "He was allowed to say goodbye. They both knew it would be the final meeting. I spoke to him this morning. He was grieving. It was very sad news to him."

Breivik and Mr Jordet also discussed whether the confessed mass murderer would like to attend her funeral. "He would like to do so but it is up to the prison (board) to decide," Mr Jordet said.

The 34-year-old right-wing fanatic committed Norway's worst peacetime massacre on July 22, 2011.

He detonated a car bomb outside government offices in Oslo, killing eight people, and then drove to the island of Utoya, where he massacred 69 in a shooting spree at the summer camp of the governing Labour Party's youth wing.

Many of those he killed were teenagers.

Five years before the massacre, Breivik had moved back to live with his mother and ended all contact with others in his social circle.

His mother never attended Breivik's 10-week trial for health reasons, but in a statement read in court she said her son had fabricated information.

Breivik and his mother had been having telephone contact in recent months because she was not able to visit him in prison for health reasons, Mr Jordet said.

"He told me they had completely opposite ideological views but they had a good mother and son relationship," the lawyer said. "He regarded her as a good mother."

Last year, the Oslo District Court found Breivik guilty of terrorism and premeditated murder for the attacks. He was given a 21-year prison sentence that can be extended if he is considered a threat.

The self-styled anti-Muslim militant denied criminal guilt, saying he was a commander of a resistance movement aiming to overthrow European governments and replace them with "patriotic" regimes that will deport Muslim immigrants.