One of Britain's most senior policemen says the country should talk to Al Qaeda to try and end their bloody campaign of violence. Sir Hugh Orde, a front-runner to replace Ian Blair as the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said he could not think of a single terrorist campaign that ended without negotiation.And after 30 years of tackling the IRA Sir Hugh, head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said he was convinced that policing - detecting plots and arresting people - was not enough alone to defeat terrorists.
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Sir Hugh admitted that negotiating with terrorists meant 'thinking the unthinkable' and said some of the biggest risks his officers took were talking to people that 'historically they would not have dreamed of talking to'.
In an interview with the Guardian newspaper his 2004 meeting with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams was an example of how one-time enemies can become partners in peace.
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He added: 'If you want my professional assessment of any terrorism campaign, what fixes it is talking and engaging and judging when the conditions are right for that to take place.
'Is that a naive statement? I don't think it is ... It is the reality of what we face.
'If somebody can show me any terrorism campaign where it has been policed out, I'd be happy to read about it, because I can't think of one.'