Born: 1952
Education: School of Journalism in Utrecht
Worked as a regional reporter for the Dutch daily Het Vrije Volk, which doesn’t exist anymore.
Traveled two years in Africa and Asia in a VW-camper as a freelance reporter, writing for various newspapers and magazines.
Worked for two years as a communication officer for Unicef (based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast), covering West-Africa.
Since 1980 staff reporter for the daily de Volkskrant, first working (till 1986) at the foreign desk (specialism Africa), next correspondent in the United States of America, based in Washington DC (till 1993), editor of the weekly art supplement (till 1995), chief of the reporters desk (till 2000), reporter at large and since 2004 teamed up with my colleague Annieke Kranenberg researching islam, radicalization and terrorism, resulting in our book ‘Female fighters of Allah’ (I prefer Allahs Angels), which was published end 2006. For two years we followed women in the Hofstad network and did research in the radicale cercle around the group (political salafism).
Programme
In bath with Islam
