National ceremony
August 21, 2011
Norway on Sunday paused for a national memorial ceremony for the 77 victims of last month's twin terrorist attacks, capping a weekend in which survivors and the bereaved revisited the sites where the bombing and shooting rampage took place.
"Today we stop time to remember the dead. We do it as one nation, together we lost the irreplaceable," Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said in his remarks, which were broadcast live on national television.
Stoltenberg urged the audience to continue to support the bereaved, to remain aware of "every extremist tendency" and to help create a sense of security.
The name of each victim was read out aloud during the ceremony where the stage of Oslo's Spektrum Arena was decked with 77 candles, symbolizing the eight victims of a car bombing in the government district and the 69 who died in a shooting at a Labor Party youth camp at Utoeya island.
When the names were read out, some members of the audience burst into tears, others stood up as a sign of respect.
A sense of closure
Among the 6,700 guests at the arena were members of the Norwegian government and parliament, the royal family as well as dignitaries from neighboring countries. They included the presidents of Finland and Iceland, the prime ministers of Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden, as well as the crown prince of Denmark and crown princess of Sweden.
Norway's King Harald said that he "as a father, grandfather and husband could only imagine the emotions and loss" experienced by those who had lost loved ones, adding that sorrow had "many faces."
Prior to the ceremony, hundreds of bereaved on Friday visited Utoeya to see where their loved ones had died.
Survivors, accompanied by one family member or friend, visited the island on Saturday, while survivors and the families of the victims of the car bomb visited the scene of the attack in central Oslo.
Anders Behring Breivik - who has admitted to planting the car bomb that killed eight and to the shooting rampage - remains in solitary confinement at a prison in Oslo.
Author: Gabriel Borrud (AFP, dpa)
Editor: Kyle James