Oslo united in grief as 100,000 take to the streets for memorial march

Oslo came alive with a Rose March of more than 150,000 people last night - united to bring love to a country scarred by hate.

They marched from the suburbs to the city centre, each carrying a single rose to remember the 76 victims of fanatical right-wing mass murderer Anders Breivik.

The mood was one of defiance as well as remembrance as prime minister Jens Stoltenberg told the crowd: "Evil can kill a human, but never defeat a whole people."

Crown Prince Haakon, whose wife Princess Mette-Marit lost her stepbrother in the massacre on Utoya island, declared: "Tonight the streets are filled with love."

One young marcher said: "There's a lot of us, most of our friends are going. We feel what's lost and we're here to show we are here to stand together."

And Amnesty International's Norwegian general secretary John Peder Egenaes said: "It will show that we stand together against everything the terror action on Friday stands for."

Princess Mette-Marit, who was joined by her sister-in-law, Princess Martha Louise, at the rally, could not hide her sorrow at the deaths.

On motorways, cars and lorries pulled on to the hard shoulder as a mark of respect.

Ordinary people at work or in their homes turned off their phones and radios to stand together in grief.

The only sounds in Oslo city centre were seagulls squawking - and a lone dog barking.

Stoltenberg, dressed in black to lead the observance of the silence, was joined by King Harald and Queen Sonja, standing next to a flame on the steps of Oslo University.

Neighbouring countries Denmark and Sweden also joined in the remembrance.

And thousands gathered at Oslo cathedral for a memorial service dedicated to those who died and more than 90 people who were injured in the attacks.

Most of those assembled outside the cathedral stood with their heads bowed throughout the 90-minute service.

Mourners gathered around a sea of candles and floral tributes to the dead and missing.

In many ways, Norway was still in a state of shock yesterday - over the sheer senseless waste of life and the fact that one of their own had turned his murderous rage on the people of the country.

Stoltenberg yesterday told the BBC that the attacks would change his country forever.

But he insisted it would remain "an open Norway, a democratic Norway and a Norway where we take care of each other".

He thanked the international community for their support but said he believed no country could ever fully protect itself from such attacks.

And he said now was the time to look after the wounded and those families who had lost loved ones.

The country cancelled political campaigning for September's elections until mid-August.

In line with the PM's words, much of the focus in Norway has been on the importance of not letting terror acts change such an open society.

Groups on social networking sites have urged people to stand together for peace and confront the hatred with love.

Other pages have demanded the reintroduction of the death penalty - a sign of growing anger and a desire for revenge.

But signs of normality began to return to Oslo yesterday.

Most shops were open and trams were rumbling through the city's streets.

But the flag on the court where mass killer Breivik appeared remained at half-mast.

There, the court officers joined in the minute's silence - just an hour before the man accused of the atrocity arrived.