Anders Behring Breivik to claim he killed 77 people 'in self-defence'

Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik will demand that he be acquitted when his trial begins next week, on the grounds that killed his 77 victims in self-defence.

The 33-year-old extremist has confessed to planting a bomb near government buildings in Oslo, and then driving to the island of Utoya where he systematically shot 69, mostly teenaged, victims.

But he has argued that his actions were "necessary" to prevent his country being overwhelmed by what he perceived as an imminent Islamic takeover.

"He is going to invoke self-defence," Geir Lippestad, his lawyer, confirmed in an interview with Norway's Dagbladet newspaper. "We of course understand that that will not succeed, but we are obliged to present his arguments."

Timothy McVeigh, the leader of the group that carried out the Oklahoma Bombing in 1995, made a similar argument, claiming that he faced an "imminent danger" from the US government, but was found guilty and later executed by lethal injection.

Norway is bracing itself for Breivik's initial testimony, expected on Monday of Tuesday. more