Ahmed Abu Laban, 1946-2007

Denmark's most prominent Muslim leader and a key player in the 2005-2006 Danish Cartoons Controversy, Ahmed Abu Laban died from complications due to lung cancer in Copenhagen late last night.

Laban was born in Palestine and lived for significant periods in Egypt and Nigeria before coming to Denmark in 1984. He grew to prominence as a leading light in the Islamic Faith Community, which represents about 10 percent of the nearly quarter-million Muslims in the country. He was frequently criticized by both Christian and moderate Muslim politicians and community leaders for his strident stands and statements, making Denmark one of the most volatile of all the European countries facing an uncomfortable period of extended growth within their Muslim communities.

Laban was the principal Denmark Muslim imam who took the publication of caricatures in the Jyllands-Posten as a direct insult to Muslims in that country and out of it, and agitated internationally about the issues, directly leading to riots and political turmoil in early 2006. Laban was accused of exploiting the circumstance for political gain and even unfairly representing the cartoons to the point of substituting more provocative fake examples, in order to make his point.

Ahmed Abu Laban is survived by his wife and seven children.
 
posted 2:26 am PST | Permalink
 

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