The BBC reports on Lembit Opik’s plea for the West to speak to al-Qaeda:
It is time to talk to al-Qaeda. Having been through this in the past, I know this is right. Declaring war on terror does not deliver peace. The random killing of hundreds of civilians has obviously secured headlines from the perpetrators. As long as this cycle is repeated, we have relatively little chance of achieving closure on the terrorist methodology.
“For those people that want revenge, it’s hard. But then the crime will have created its own ricochet. That would distract from any chance of strategic solutions – leaving us with a tactical ricochet of violence instead of a strategic end to violence. …
“We’ll only make progress when we take a more grown-up approach to an essentially understandable organisation. I am not setting myself up as the saviour of the western world; anyone could be saying what I am saying. The real progress would be to lock people into the process much more than shadow boxing. The British political system is afraid to acknowledge the potential legitimacy of the motives behind terror. They think that means they are condoning terror – nothing could be further from the truth.”
As the BBC article points out, Lembit’s is not a lone voice – former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam and Tony Blair’s former aide Jonathan Powell have both also urged Western governments to talk to terror groups such as al-Qaeda. But the view has not persuaded Ed Davey:
“We are light years from this point – he’s kidding himself,” says foreign affairs spokesman Ed Davey, who last year conducted a four-day fact-finding mission to the Middle East. He backs more dialogue between forces in Afghanistan and the Taleban, and between the west – especially the US – and the Iranian government.
But adds: “The problem with al-Qaeda is that their actual agenda is the destruction of our way of life.” He supports any informal contact with al-Qaeda or intelligence gathering the government may be engaged in, but thinks “the idea that there is a meeting of minds to be had is impossible”.
And he adds, wryly: “It is possible to debate with Opik, unlike with al-Qaeda.”
