[JURIST] Three Norwegian men indicted [JURIST report] in September for shooting at an Oslo synagogue and planning attacks against US and Israeli embassies went on trial in Oslo Monday under strengthened anti-terrorism laws. This is the first time that suspects will be tried under the country's new terror laws, which were passed in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks [JURIST news archive] on the United States. The trial is expected to last 40 days and include 80 witnesses

The US ambassador to Norway last year criticized [JURIST report] a circulated draft of Norway's new anti-terrorism law as too lenient; Ambassador Benson K. Whitney [official profile] expressed particular concern about the fact that membership of a terrorist organization was not by itself an offense. AP has more.