Lars Akerhaug
Lars Akerhaug (born 1981) is a Norwegian journalist and non-fiction author. He currently writes for the liberal-conservative periodical "Minerva" with a focus on Islamic extremism, and has previously written for newspapers "Verdens Gang" and "Aftenposten", and as a freelancer. Akerhaug has authored the investigative journalism books "Norsk jihad" (Norwegian jihad; 2013) about Norwegian Islamists, and "En norsk terrorist" (A Norwegian terrorist; 2015) about Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow, the Norwegian perpetrator of the 2013 Westgate shopping mall attack in Kenya. Both books received good reviews in "Dagbladet". He was granted 100.000 from Fritt Ord for development of the  book "Siste jul i Kairo" (Last Christmas in Cairo; 2016), about the persecution of Christians in the Middle East. Akerhaug is considered one of Norway's foremost experts on Islamic extremism, and is often referred to for commentary in Norwegian media. Having publicly confronted his own past as a radical leftist and former member of the Workers' Communist Party (AKP) who once represented the Red Electoral Alliance (RV) in the Bærum municipal council, Akerhaug has produced criticism of contemporary leftism.