[piasa]

This tidbit was buried in the article:

This week, a London-based organization founded by a former British MI6 officer, the Conflicts Forum, issued a report that said coup plotters met in June in Damascus at the same time American forces assassinated Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
"The Damascus group included some of the more well known lights of the former Baathist regime, who fled the country on the eve of the war, to take up residence in Qatar, Jordan and other nearby countries," the report said.
The Conflicts Forum seeks to open political dialogue between Western governments and political Islamist parties such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Hezbollah.

Oh, great, does this mean more political dialogue to legitimize terror groups?

[Cindy]

It's common sense not to negotiate with terrorists.
If the terrorists were lobbing in rockets or missiles
into this country; I KNOW Bush/Rice, Israel, etc, would
NOT suggest sitting down to tea and crumpets for a
little session of diplomacy and dialog.

[Fedora]

founded by a former British MI6 officer

This looks to be Alistair Cooke (spelled "Alastair" on some links):

Conflicts Forum was founded by Alastair Crooke, a trained negotiator and Mark Perry, a military, intelligence and foreign affairs analyst and writer. Both men have extensive experience in conflict resolution and negotiation. For example, Mr. Cooke and Mr. Perry negotiated the end of the Church of Nativity siege in Bethlehem in 2002, and helped facilitate the Palestinian ceasefires of 2002 and 2003. Mr. Crooke was also a staff member of the Mitchell Committee that inquired into the causes of the intifada (2000–2001). Conflicts Forum is funded by donations from individuals and businesses in the United States and the Middle East who believe that dialogue and mutual understanding is the way forward. It has had a good start and, in conjunction with other events transpiring in the Middle East, Vanessa feels that it will have an impact on U.S. policy.

Interview with former MI6 agent

Alastair Crooke is a former official with Britain's MI6 intelligence agency and I have picked up this recent interview with al-jazeera that makes fascinating reading. Considering his previous position it is probably fair to presume that his view mirrors that of MI6 and therefore makes the interview more interesting still. . .Alastair spent many years in the Arab and Muslim world and engaged in dialogue with Hamas and Hizb Allah, as well as facing paramilitary forces and drug cartels in Latin America and militias in Africa. During this time, Crooke helped end the Israeli siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in 2002 and worked to mediate the summer 2003 ceasefire between Palestinian armed groups and Israeli forces.