Man sets himself on fire outside Breivik trial

A mentally-ill man has set himself on fire outside the court where right-wing extremist Anders Breivik is being tried for the bombing and shooting massacre that killed 77 people.

Police said the man did not appear to have any connections to the case, which has been under way since mid-April in the Oslo District Court.

A video clip of the incident posted on Norwegian newspaper VG's website showed the man setting himself on fire before stunned witnesses.

He walked up to police with flames shooting up from his sweater and hat, and appeared to yell "shoot me, it hurts" in a Scandinavian language with a foreign accent.

Police officers stationed outside the court reacted immediately to attempt to extinguish the flames.

The man was taken to hospital with serious injuries. Officers said he sustained injuries to his chest and to his stomach.

The self-immolation was the first incident outside the Oslo district court since the trial began. Inside the court, an Iraqi man whose brother was killed in the massacre threw a shoe at Breivik on Friday, hitting one of Breivik's defence lawyers.

The trial is scheduled to run until the end of June.

Breivik has admitted to setting off a car bomb that killed eight people outside the government headquarters in Oslo and then killing 69 people in a shooting rampage at the Labor Party's annual youth camp.

The self-styled anti-Muslim militant has shown no remorse for the attacks, saying the victims had betrayed Norway by embracing multiculturalism.