Breivik 'did not expect to survive' Norway attacks

Mass killer Anders Breivik said today he thought he had only a slim chance of escaping Norway’s capital alive after setting off a bomb in the government district on July 22.

On the fourth day of his terror trial, the anti-Muslim extremist said he had expected to be confronted by armed police when he left Oslo for a youth camp on Utoya island, where he killed 69 people in a shooting massacre. No one stopped Breivik on his way to the island.

Breivik told the court today he had prepared for a firefight with police in Oslo by playing video games, and said: “I estimated the chances of survival as less than 5%.”

Breivik has confessed to the bomb-and-shooting rampage, but rejects criminal guilt saying he was acting to protect Norway and Europe.

Breivik entered the Oslo district court without the clenched-fist salute he had used in previous hearings.

The key issue of the trial is to establish whether he is criminally insane.

In his testimony, the 33-year-old Norwegian said he played the computer game 'Modern Warfare' for 16 months starting in January 2010, primarily to get a feel for how to use rifle sights.

Breivik said he decided already in 2006 to carry out what he expected to be a “suicide” operation.

First he took a “sabbatical year” fully devoted to playing another computer game, 'World of Warcraft', for 16 hours a day.

Cutting off social contact for a full year helped him prepare for the attacks, but said the game-playing was “pure entertainment. It doesn’t have anything to do with July 22”.

If found sane, Breivik could face a maximum 21-year prison sentence or an alternate custody arrangement that would keep him locked up as long as he is considered a menace to society.

If declared insane, he would be committed to psychiatric care for as long as he’s considered ill.

The trial is expected to last 10 weeks.