This House believes it is time to talk to Al Qaeda
Wednesday September 05 2007
MOTION PASSED
by 63% to 37%
Details
The majority of the audience at the first Doha Debate of the Fourth Series called on Western governments to negotiate with Al Qaeda.
Just over 63 percent of the audience supported the motion: ‘This House believes it is time to talk to Al Qaeda.’
Former British hostage Terry Waite led the argument for dialogue with what he described as "the extreme edge of insurgency in the Islamic world". He said that building inroads into organisations like Al Qaeda required "courage and perseverance" on the part of governments in the West and the Arab world. Mr. Waite's co-speaker was General Asad Durrani, the former head of the Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).
Opposing the motion was Dr Laith Kubba, who was a spokesman for the former Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Al Jaafari. He argued that the legitimacy that such dialogue would bring could only cause further damage. Dr Kubba called Al Qaeda "fundamentally different from any other terrorist group and nothing more than a death machine".
Dr Kubba was joined in opposing the motion by Adam Holloway MP, a former British army officer, journalist and now a Conservative parliamentarian serving on the House of Commons Defence Select Committee.
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