Muslim leader Ahmed Abu Laban dies at 60

Ahmed Abu Laban, Denmark's most prominent Muslim leader and a central figure in last year's uproar over the Prophet Muhammad cartoons, has died from cancer, his organization said Friday. He was 60.

Abu Laban died late Thursday at the Hvidovre Hospital in Copenhagen after battling lung cancer, said Kasem Ahmad, a spokesman for the Islamic Faith Community.

A Palestinian immigrant who became Denmark's leading imam, Abu Laban was thrust into the international spotlight during the firestorm over the prophet cartoons, when he accused Denmark of being disrespectful of Islam and Muslim immigrants.

He angered many Danes by seeking support from the Middle East in his fight against the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, which first published the controversial cartoons.

Many blamed him and other Islamic clerics in Denmark for stirring up anger that triggered massive and sometimes violent anti-Danish protests in Muslim countries in January and February last year.

The 12 drawings, one of which depicted Muhammad wearing a turban shaped like a bomb, offended many Muslims because Islamic law is interpreted to forbid any depiction of the prophet for fear it could lead to idolatry.

In an interview with The Associated Press before the protests broke out, Abu Laban described the cartoons as an attempt to "insult" and "degrade" the prophet.

"There was no point but mere mockery," he said.

Jyllands-Posten later apologized for the cartoons, saying the purpose was not to offend Muslims but to challenge a perceived self-censorship among artists dealing with Muslim issues.

Muslim leaders hailed Abu Laban as a great spiritual leader with strong political views.

"We lost one of our best friends and brothers," said Imam Khalil Jafar Mushab, of the Islamic Cultural Center in Copenhagen. "It is a great loss for the community and his mosque."

Abu Laban is survived by his wife, Inam, and their seven children.

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Associated Press writer Karl Ritter in Stockholm, Sweden, contributed to this report.