Anders Behring Breivik, the 32-year-old far-right extremist who perpetrated the horrifying attacks in Norway last weekend, was inspired partially by a neo–Knights Templar movement in England run by a man named Paul Ray. Ray runs a "Richard the Lionhearted" blog which is thought to have heavily influenced Breivik's insane 1,500-page manifesto. He's a former activist for the anti-Islam, anti-immigrant English Defence League (EDL), who had to move to Malta after being accused of using his blog to provoke racial discord. He's clearly an unsavory kind of guy, and even he was disgusted by Breivik's crimes (or claims halfheartedly to be); Ray told the Times of London that he was "being implicated" as Breivik's mentor but that, despite the fact that "he has given me a platform and a profile," his attacks were "pure evil.
The group, calling itself Order 777, claims to bring together Christian resistance movements and features a depiction of a Templar Knight with the slogan “The Order 777 Strikes Back!” alongside footage of a variety of armed gangs with the words “factions united.”
The groups include the UFF in Northern Ireland, Serbian nationalists, Liberian and Congolese fighters and members of the neo-fascist AWB in South Africa.
In one clip Mr Greger is handling a Kalashnikov and in another says: “The war of the future will be a war of the religions.”
Mr Ray has denied that he has had any contact with Breivik but yesterday admitted that his movement appeared to be violent.
“It might seem that way,” he told the Daily Telegraph. “What can I say? It’s pretty clear. People can understand [the videos] however they want to understand them.”
Mr Ray, originally from Luton, Bedfordshire but now living in Malta, said Order 777 was “commanded” by Mr Greger - known as “Nazi Nick” or “Mad Nick” - and he was “aligned with his leadership.”
“It does look quite bad doesn’t it? I can’t say it doesn’t,” he added.
The Daily Telegraph revealed earlier this week that there were striking similarities between Mr Ray and a person called “Richard (the Lionhearted)” who Breivik claimed acted as a mentor and set up a secretive group called the Knights Templar in London in 2002.
Like Mr Ray, Breivik said the man may have been “one of the founders” of the right-wing English Defence League (EDL) and much of the language used in Breivik’s list of principles for the Knights Templar was similar.
Mr Ray later told this newspaper that he could have acted as inspiration for Breivik but denounced his actions.
He added yesterday: “If he had been a follower of mine he would have attacked Muslims not left wingers. He’s just clothed himself in the Templar ideals.”
Mr Ray said he had been “racking my brains about this guy” and that Breivik may have approached him on the Facebook social network site but that he could not be sure.
“He has just taken stuff off the videos and used it for his own gain,” he added.
Mr Ray said he did not become involved in the right-wing anti-Muslim movement until 2006, when he helped found the EDL.
Nevertheless a number of similarities between the “compendium” and the Order 777 videos have begun to emerge.
Breivik said he had attended the founding meeting of the “Knights Templar Europe” in London “after visiting one of the initial facilitators, a Serbian Crusader Commander and war hero, in Monrovia, Liberia.”
Both the “compendium” and the Order 777 videos feature a man called Milorad Ulemek, a former commander of the Red Berets, a unit of the Serbian security Services called the JSO, who was arrested in 2004 and convicted of the assassinations of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic and former Serbian President Ivan Stambolic and of organising the attempted murder of the Serbian opposition leader Vuk Draskovic.
The videos also feature Charles Taylor, the former Liberian dictator now facing war crimes trials, and a girl called “Black Diamond” who fought on the rebel army against Taylor in 2003.
Some of the videos also feature a trance music soundtrack – a kind of music Breivik enjoyed listening to.
It may be that Breivik has altered dates in order to claim association with individuals connected to Order 777 but Scotland Yard’s Domestic Extremism Unit and the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) both refused last night to say whether Breivik visited Britain and Liberia in 2002 as he claims. He admits that he did not start writing his “compendium” until 2006.
No comments:
Post a Comment