Police chief: Let's talk to al Qaeda

LONDON, England (CNN) -- One of Britain's top policemen has called for direct negotiations with the leaders of al Qaeda to help bring their terror campaign to an end.

Sir Hugh Orde is the head of the Northern Ireland police service. He said his experience of dealing with terrorism in the territory had taught him that "talking and engaging" with the enemy was the only way to end violence.

In an interview with London's Guardian newspaper published Friday, Orde said he could not think of a single terrorism campaign in history that had ended without negotiation.

"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," he told the paper.

"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."

Orde was the first head of the police force in Northern Ireland to meet with Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA.

In Northern Ireland, over 30 years of conflict between the IRA and the British army was finally ended after a lengthy peace process involving Adams and loyalist leader Ian Paisley. As a result, Catholics and Protestants now share power together in the province.

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