Truck bomb used in Norway blast

ABC News:

At least one of two explosions that rocked a Norwegian government building in Oslo today was result of a massive vehicle bomb, according to U.S. government sources on the scene.

The tangled wreckage of a vehicle was seen near the Norwegian government building that was targeted in the blast, officials said. It was not clear if the car was a bomb vehicle or near the site of a blast. At least one explosion was the result of a massive vehicle bomb, U.S. government sources said.

Norwegian news reported at least two people were killed and several more were injured.

"It felt very big. It shook the whole building," Norwegian government official Anders Lande said. "There was lots of glass. As I was evacuated, I saw several people injured."

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Earlier this month, a Norwegian prosecutor filed terrorism charges against an Iraqi-born cleric who had allegedly threatened the lives of Norwegian politicians. Mullah Krekar, the founder of the Kurdish Islamist group Ansar al-Islam, said in a news conference in 2010 that if he was deported from Norway he would be killed and, therefore, Norwegian politicians deserved the same fate, according to an AP report. The Norwegian government had considered deporting Krekar because he was seen as a national security threat.

Prior to the Iraq War, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell said Ansar al-Islam was the "sinister nexus between Iraq and the al Qaeda terrorist network."

In July 2010, Norway arrested two alleged al Qaeda operatives who were allegedly plotting attacks similar to the attack planned by Najibullah Zazi on the New York City subway system. A third Norwegian resident was arrested in Germany in connection with the same alleged plot.

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There is reason to believe that Muslim religious bigots are the likely suspects in the blast. The Norwegians should be able to trace the truck and find out how it was placed where it could explode near the buildings.