Jonathan Powell interview: middle-man to the terrorists says ‘secret talks are necessary’

Jonathan Powell is a British diplomat who served as Tony Blair’s chief of staff from 1997 to 2007. During this period, he was also Britain’s chief negotiator for Northern Ireland. These days, Powell runs a charity called Inter Mediate, which works as a go-between among terrorist organizations and governments around the globe. David Cameron appointed him last May as the UK’s special envoy to Libya.

His book ‘Talking to Terrorists’ was published this month, a review of which can be found in the October 4 edition of The Spectator. In it, Powell argues the British government has failed to learn lessons from the history of diplomacy with guerrilla groups.

I met with Powell recently at his office in Westminster, where he expounded on the complicated process of negotiating with the IRA, and why the British government will at some stage have to talk to Isis.

Does every terrorist have a rational point where the West can sit down and have a conversation with them?

Every time there is a new terrorist group, [the West] says we are going to defeat them, but never does.