Dirk Laabs

Dirk Laabs, born in 1973 Hamburg, is a German author specializing in the subject of terrorism, as well as an investigative journalist and filmmaker. He has received awards for the documentaries *Die Fremden im Paradies – Warum Gotteskrieger töten* (Strangers in Paradise – Why Holy Warriors Kill) and *Der Fall Deutsche Bank – Abstieg eines Geldhauses* (The Deutsche Bank Case – Decline of a Financial Institution).

Laabs studied philosophy and political science and lived in Israel for two years. He began his career in 1992 as a reporter for the tabloid Hamburger Morgenpost. He worked as a freelancer from 1995 to 1996 for the television programs *DAS!* and *Extra 3*, produced by the broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). Subsequently, he worked for private broadcasters such as MTV and Sat.1. From 1999 to 2001, he trained at the Henri Nannen School of Journalism in Hamburg.

From 2001 to 2003, he worked for the Los Angeles Times, focusing on the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. He also served as a consultant on Islamist terrorism at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice (City University of New York). He has given interviews to various national and international broadcasters, including BBC Four and France 24. In the years that followed, he worked for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, the *Financial Times Deutschland, Der Spiegel, and Stern.

He has worked as a lecturer at the Henri Nannen School in Hamburg, where he currently resides.