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Norway mosque shooter: ‘I would like to apologise for not doing more harm’:

The man behind last year's failed mosque attack in Oslo has pleaded not guilty to murder and terror offences, claiming that he was acting "in self-defence" to prevent "genocide of the white race".

Norway mosque shooter: 'I would like to apologise for not doing more harm':
Flowers and police cordon are pictured in front of the Al-Noor Islamic Centre Mosque in Baerum near Oslo, Norway on August 12, 2019Orn E. Borgen / NTB Scanpix / AFP
His only regret, he told a court outside Oslo, was that he did not kill more people. 
 
Philip Manshaus, 22, went on trial on Thursday, eight months after he opened fire in a mosque in Oslo on August 10 last year, with the aim, the prosecutor claims, of killing as many people as possible. 
 
Manshaus made the “OK” sign with his hand as he entered the courtroom, a gesture used by some to signify white supremacy.

 
He then launched into a long speech in which he denied the Holocaust, warned of the extinction of the white race and ranted against homosexuals and pornography, during which he was repeatedly interrupted by the judge. 
 
“I want to apologise to all like-minded people that I did not do more harm,” he said. “That is something I am ashamed of. I behaved impulsively, and was stressed, and should have planned the attack better.” 
 
“But I am proud that I had the opportunity to fight at a time where help is desperately needed.” 
 
Phillip Manshaus, 22, makes a sign with his hand connected to the fair Right on the first day of his trial in Oslo. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB Scanpix / AFP
 
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Manshaus shot and killed his step-sister Johanne Zhangjia Ihle-Hansen at the home they shared in Bærum on August 10 last year, before going to the nearby Al-Noor Mosque carrying a shotgun and a hunting rifle. 
 
After entering, he opened fire but was then quickly overpowered by a 65-year-old member of the congregation, who managed to wrestle his weapons from him, after which he was held until his arrest by police. 
 
There were just three worshippers in the mosque at the time, and no one was injured. 
 

 
At the start of the court hearing, Manshaus made a hand gesture linked to the far right, following a pattern set by the Norwegian far-right terrorist Anders Behring Breivik, made a closed fist salute in the courtroom. 
 
 
Manshaus began his speech by announcing that to understand his actions, people would need to read the manifesto of the New Zealand terrorist Brentan Tarrant, who killed 51 people and wounded dozens more when he attacked two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand's capital in 2019. 
 
When asked by the prosecutor why he had a picture of Adolf Hitler as the background image on his mobile, he said that he viewed the Nazi leader as a role model. 
 
“We who question whether the Holocaust ever happened do not deny that there were concentration camps, or that Jews, along with other foreigners, communist revolutionaries and prisoners of war were transported to these camps,” he said. “What we dispute is that six million Jews were killed in a systematic genocide.” 
 
The trial is due to last until May 26. Manshaus faces 21 years in prison if convicted

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MOSQUE

Prosecutor calls for Oslo mosque shooter to be jailed for 21 years

A prosecutor in Norway has called for the man behind last year's failed mosque shooting to be sentenced to 21 years in prison, the maximum sentence possible, arguing that he was an "extremely dangerous person".

Flowers lain outside the Baerum mosque last August. Photo: Orn e. Borgen / NTB Scanpix / AFP
Philip Manshaus, 22, killed his 17-year-old stepsister Johanne Zhangjia Ihle-Hansen at their home in Oslo on August 10 last year.
 
He then entered the Al-Noor Mosque in Bærum and opened fire, before being quickly overpowered by two elderly members of the congregation. 
 
Prosector Johan Øverberg said that he could see no mitigating circumstances which might point to a lesser sentence for Manshaus, whose only regret during the trial was that he had not killed more people. 
 
“He showed no mercy,” he said of the murder of Ihle-Hansen. “This was a simple execution of his stepsister from childhood. Johanne was defenceless. It was a cynical and deliberate murder. He is saying that he can decide who deserves to live, and who deserves to die.” 
 
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Øverberg said that the failure of the mosque attack did not mean it should be treated less seriously that a successful attack, such as that carried out by Brenton Tarrant in New Zealand. 
 
“It may have been…a clumsy and unsuccessful terrorist attack, with a young person simply disarmed by older men,” Øverberg said. 
 
“But although he may have made some mistakes along the way, he was determined to take as many lives as possible. He had enough ammunition to kill as many people as Tarrant. There is no basis for questioning the severity of the attack.” 
 
 
Øverberg agreed with the verdict of court psychiatrists that Manshaus was not psychotic, and had instead been radicalized over a two-year period.
 
Manhaus has also maintained throughout the trial that he is criminally accountable. “I was afraid that the opinions I had could be defined as a personality disorder,” he told the court. 
 
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