Smirking Breivik 'not guilty'

The Norwegian far-right gunman who massacred 77 people last year gave a clenched-fist salute, smirked at the court and pleaded not guilty on the first day of a trial that threatens to turn into a "circus" showcasing his anti-Islamic views.

Anders Behring Breivik, 33, has said he acted in defence of his country by setting off a car bomb that killed eight people at government headquarters in Oslo last July, then killing another 69 people in a shooting spree at a youth summer camp organised by the ruling Labour Party.

The trial will reveal whether Breivik is found guilty or insane. Though he risks being kept behind bars for the rest of his life, the high school dropout has said being labelled insane would be a "fate worse than death".

Listening impassively for hours as prosecutors read out an indictment detailing how he massacred teenagers trapped on an island resort outside Oslo, he only shed tears when the court later showed one of his propaganda videos.

Wearing a suit and loosely knotted tie, Breivik entered the Oslo court in handcuffs. He smirked several times as the cuffs were removed, put his right fist on his heart then extended his hand in salute.

"I do not recognise the Norwegian courts. You have received your mandate from political parties which support multiculturalism," Breivik told the court after refusing to stand when judges entered.

"I acknowledge the acts but not criminal guilt as I claim self-defence," he added.

Occasionally suppressing a yawn and cracking his knuckles, he stared down at the charge sheet, following without visible emotion the list of his killings as the prosecutor read out each one.

Some details were so graphic that Norwegian television bleeped out descriptions of the massacres.

Breivik shot most of his victims several times, often using the first shot to take down his target then following up with a shot to the head. His youngest victim was 14. He later surrendered as "commander of the Norwegian resistance movement".

Prosecutors played a recording of an emergency call made by one of the summer campers hiding in the bathroom of a cafe.

"There's shooting all the time, I've seen many injured. He's inside!" Renate Taarnes screamed, as 13 people in the cafe were shot dead. "He's coming ... he's coming," she said as shots could be heard in the background.

But Breivik only became tearful while watching a movie of still pictures accompanied by text of his vision of evils of "multiculturalism" and "Islamic demographic warfare".

"I think he feels sorry for himself," said Mette Yvonne Larsen, one of the lawyers representing victims. "His project didn't work out, that's why he's crying. He's not crying for the victims ... he's crying over his extremely childish film."

The trial is scheduled to last 10 weeks and has raised fears that it could reopen wounds in Norway, a country that sees itself as a tolerant and peaceful society.

Breivik says his attacks were intended to punish "traitors" whose pro-immigration policies were adulterating Norwegian blood.

About 200 people were in a specially built courtroom while 700 attack survivors and family members of victims watched on closed-circuit video around the country.

The defence team has called 29 witnesses to argue that Breivik was sane, with a world view shared by a narrow group of people.

His proposed witnesses include Mullah Krekar, the Kurdish founder of Islamist group Ansar al-Islam, who was jailed in Norway for making death threats, and "Fjordman", a right-wing blogger who influenced Breivik.