Norwegian Islamist wanted over deadly shooting at LGBTQ+ festival is being sent back from Pakistan

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A radical Norwegian Islamist who is suspected of complicity in the deadly shooting at an LGBTQ+ festival in Oslo two years ago has been expelled from Pakistan and is on his way to Norway, the Scandinavian country’s government said Friday.

Two people were killed and nine seriously wounded in the shooting at three locations, chiefly outside the London Pub, a popular gay bar in Oslo’s nightlife district, on June 25, 2022.

Arfan Bhatti, who is to land in Oslo later Friday, allegedly posted statements online about killing gay people, Norwgian media have said.

Bhatti knew Zaniar Matapour, the main suspect in the attack that the Norwegian Police Security Service has called an “Islamist terror act.” Matapour has since March been on trial in Oslo for the shooting, accused of terrorism.

A Norwegian citizen born in Oslo to Pakistan immigrants, Bhatti who has a past in criminal gangs, was a leading figure in radical Islamic circles in Norway for years, chiefly known as the leading figure in an Islamic State-affiliated group in the country.

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