A man has set himself on fire outside the Oslo court where right-wing extremist Anders Breivik is being tried for his bombing and shooting massacre.

Police said the man doused himself in a flammable liquid and set himself on fire. Officers posted outside the building quickly put out the flames.

The man suffered burns and was taken to Oslo University Hospital.

Police did not know his identity or motive.

Asked whether the incident was connected to the trial going on since mid-April against Breivik, a police spokesman said: "One would think there is one connection or another but we don't have any information on that."

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.

He has shown no remorse for the attacks, saying the victims had betrayed Norway by embracing multiculturalism.

The police spokesman said: "He is seriously injured. He has wounds on his chest and stomach.''

Norwegian newspaper VG posted a video clip on its website showing a man running toward the security checkpoint outside the court with flames shooting up from his hat.

Another sequence showed police officers tending to him on the pavement outside the checkpoint, removing his burning sweater.

The fire today was the first incident outside the Oslo district court since the trial began.

Inside, an Iraqi man whose brother was killed in the massacre threw a shoe at Breivik last Friday, hitting one of Breivik’s defence lawyers.

That incident briefly interrupted the proceedings, which had been conducted without disturbances until that point.

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