Lars Akerhaug (born 1981) is a Norwegian journalist and

non-fiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...

author. He currently writes for the liberal-conservative periodical ''

Minerva Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the Roma ...

'' with a focus on

Islamic extremism Islamic extremism, Islamist extremism, or radical Islam, is used in reference to extremist beliefs and behaviors which are associated with the Islamic religion. These are controversial terms with varying definitions, ranging from academic unde ...

, and has previously written for newspapers ''

Verdens Gang ''Verdens Gang'' ("The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. ''VG'' is n ...

'' and ''

Aftenposten ( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 million ...

'', and as a

freelancer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

. Akerhaug has authored the

investigative journalism Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...

books ''Norsk jihad'' (Norwegian jihad; 2013) about Norwegian Islamists, and ''En norsk terrorist'' (A Norwegian terrorist; 2015) about

Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow (1990 – 22 September 2013) was a Norwegian-Somalian Islamic terrorism, Islamist terrorist and Al-Shabaab (militant group), Al-Shabaab-member who was one of four perpetrators of the 2013 Westgate shopping mall attack in Nair ...

, the Norwegian perpetrator of the 2013

Westgate shopping mall attack On 21 September 2013, four masked gunmen attacked the Westgate shopping mall, an upscale mall in Nairobi, Kenya. There are conflicting reports about the number killed in the attack, since part of the mall collapsed due to a fire that starte ...

in Kenya. Both books received good reviews in ''

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newsp ...

''. 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 Christianity, which originated in the Middle East during the 1st century AD, is a significant minority religion within the region, characterized by the diversity of its beliefs and traditions, compared to Christianity in other parts of the ...

. 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 Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

, Akerhaug has produced criticism of contemporary leftism.

Published books

* 2013: ''Norsk jihad: muslimske ekstremister blant oss''. Kagge. * 2015: ''En norsk terrorist: portrett av den nye ekstremismen''. Kagge. * 2016: ''Siste jul i Kairo: fortellingen om Midtøstens siste kristne''. Dreyer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akerhaug, Lars 1981 births Living people People from Bærum 21st-century Norwegian journalists Norwegian non-fiction writers Norwegian male non-fiction writers Norwegian investigative journalists Aftenposten people Verdens Gang people