THE GUARDIAN: Former No 10 chief says Irish peace process showed link to enemy needed
Western governments must talk to terror groups including al-Qaida and the Taliban if they hope to secure a long-term halt to their campaigns of violence, according to the man who for more than a decade was Tony Blair's most influential aide and adviser.
Jonathan Powell, who served as Blair's chief of staff from 1995 to 2007 and is widely regarded as having been instrumental in negotiating a settlement in Northern Ireland, said his experience in the province convinced him that it was essential to keep a line of communication open even with one's most bitter enemies.
Powell said: "There's nothing to say to al-Qaida and they've got nothing to say to us at the moment, but at some stage you're going to have to come to a political solution as well as a security solution. And that means you need the ability to talk."
In his first major interview, ahead of the publication of his book on the behind the scenes drama leading to the Northern Ireland peace deal, Powell also delivered a remarkably candid assessment of the Blair years, revealing that:
· He did not think Labour had governed boldly enough because it feared losing power.
· Blair had a tendency to change his mind about things and could be "a bit of a flippertygibbet".
· Blair had failed in 10 years of government to sell Europe to the British.
· Relations between the Blair and Brown camps were so toxic that Gordon Brown did not talk to him for 10 years. Top Blair aide: we must talk to al-Qaida >>> By Ian Katz
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
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