23/7 Tass 107
MOSCOW, July 23 (Itar-Tass) — Chairman of Russian State Duma international committee Konstantin Kosachev on behalf of other members of the lower parliament house has expressed condolences to the Norwegian people over the acts of terror in Oslo and Utoya.
“What happened in Norway is a shocking tragedy for any country. We are mourning with the Norwegian people and which them fortitude and courage,” he told journalists.
This is the first such tragedy that occurred in Norway “for no apparent reasons,” he said. “As an expert in Scandinavian studies, I know Norway well enough. It is distinguished by its firm traditions of democracy, tolerance and respect to human rights. I still cannot understand what such an awful tragedy should have happened there.”
“We are yet to learn the reasons,” he concluded.
According to latest reports, the death toll from a blast in Oslo’s parliamentary quarters and an attack on a youth camp in Utoya has reached 91. Local police said both crimes were committed by the same man, a radical rightist, who has already been identified.