In 2001, after being Secretary of State twice, Job Cohen of the Labour Party (PvdA) became mayor of Amsterdam. During his tenure, which lasted until 2010, Cohen had to deal with rising ethnic tensions in his city, with the 2004 murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh as an all time low. In 2006 and 2007, Cohen and his staff had unsuccessfully tried to mediate in the Westermoskee conflict. After a controversial interview in newspaper Trouw with Fatih Daǧ, mosque chairman at the time, Cohen pulled his hands off the project.