Alleged Oslo Pride Attacker Had Contact With Known Islamic Radical

The suspect in the Oslo pride shooting attack that left two dead and at least ten injured last weekend at a local gay bar is said to have had direct contact with the leader of an Islamist group.

Iranian national Zaniar Matapour, the main suspect in the Oslo attack, is said to have been in contact with Arfan Bhatti, an Islamist who created the group Profetens Ummah (The Prophet’s Community), which is said to be linked to the Islamic State terror group.

Earlier this month, Bhatti is said to have posted a picture on social media of a Pride flag on fire and also posted a quote regarding the killing of homosexuals online, broadcaster SVT reports.

Both Matapour and Bhatti are also said to have travelled in the same vehicle together in connection with a recent demonstration against the burning of copies of the Islamic Qur’an.

The lawyer for 42-year-old Matapour acknowledged that the two men had previously been neighbours but did not go into depth about the relationship between the two men.

The Norwegian security service PST claims that in May this year Matapour had been contacted by them after he had shown an interest in those who might offend Islam but claimed he did not show any signs of violence at the time.

“It was not considered in these conversations that the perpetrator had violent intentions, but PST is aware that the perpetrator has had challenges linked to mental health,” Børge Enoksen of the Oslo police said.

Saturday’s attack saw two people shot dead and ten others wounded by gunfire at Oslo’s London Pub, a popular LGBT venue, just prior to the city’s Pride event and was just one of three locations in which the 42-year-old opened fire in the heart of the city. Acting PST chief Roger Berg later stated that the shooting was an “extreme Islamist terror act.”

The attack comes just months after another deadly attack in Norway in Kongsberg that saw an Islamic convert allegedly kill five and injure two others with a bow and arrow and a knife. The 37-year-old suspect had been known to police and flagged for possible radicalisation prior to the attack, which took place last October.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.