Mohamad Al-Khaled Samha
Abu Bashar (born Mohamad Al-Khaled Samha in 1958) is a Syrian-born imam of the mosque of The Islamic Society in Denmark in Odense, Denmark. He was involved in protests against the Jyllands-Posten cartoons of Muhammad and in the Vollsmose terrorist arrests. Al-Khaled worked together with Christian priests to put up a display on religions in the municipality building, and participated in a groundbreaking conference between Christian and Muslim leaders in Denmark. Al-Khaled was one of the imams who travelled to the Middle East with the Akkari-Laban dossier during the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. He was part of the first delegation of imams that went to Egypt 3–11 December 2005. Al-Khaled worked as prison imam at the State Prison in Nyborg until he was fired in July 2006. According to sources at the prison, he was fired after complaints from inmates at Nyborg State Prison that he was inciting hatred of Denmark. Answering to the story in the Folketing, Justice Minister Lene Espersen said he was fired due to cutbacks at the prison. Al-Khaled knew the Vollsmose terrorists, who lived in his area, though he mentioned in interviews he knew them only as neighbors After their arrest, he confirmed for news