Minister strips for club

2008-08-20 14:04

Oslo - Norwegian Justice Minister Knut Storberget has joined an exclusive Arctic skinny-dipping club by diving naked into the icy waters off an island near the North Pole, local media reported on Wednesday.

Storberget became member number 2 110 of the Bjoernoeya island's skinny-dipping association when he plunged into the Barents Sea, enveloping himself in the 3.8-degree Celsius waves, the local Nordlys daily reported on its website.

"This was wonderful!" he was quoted as saying as he dried off on a stoney beach on the small island, located between the northern tip of the Norwegian mainland and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, less than 2 000km from the North Pole.

The justice ministry confirmed to AFP that Storberget had taken the icy dip.

According to Cathrine Edvardsen, one of only nine inhabitants on the island, there are three criteria for becoming a member of the skinny-dipping club.

"You have to be naked, your head has to go under water and a witness of the opposite sex must be present," she told Nordlys.

According to the paper, former defence minister Kristin Krohn Devold was the 1,000th person to become a member of the group.

- AFP