It is often said that the violence of Islamic militants is purely gratuitous, without reason or objective. To my surprise, Jean-Marie Colombani, editor of the French daily, Le Monde, expressed just such a view when he wrote on March 16 that the terrorists who bombed the Spanish trains had no programme except hate and no political objective save to prevent the spread of democracy in Muslim societies! In my view, this analysis is totally wrong.

It echoes the bankrupt claim of American neo-conservatives that the terrorists do not object to what America does but to what it is. Such Washington hawks allege that it is not the policies of Bush, Blair and Aznar that have triggered a violent response, but rather the terrorists' fanatical ambition to destroy "freedom-loving" western societies.

One way of looking at it is to say that Al Qaida - and also Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Palestinian territories and others - are striving to acquire a deterrent capability.


A Libyan man held for almost 16 months without charge or trial was released from Belmarsh high security prison last night after three appeal court judges ruled that the home secretary had acted "inappropriately" and "unlawfully" in certifying him as an international terrorist.

Jay Garner, the US general abruptly dismissed as Iraq's first occupation administrator after a month in the job, says he fell out with the Bush circle because he wanted free elections and rejected an imposed programme of privatisation. In an interview to be broadcast on BBC Newsnight tonight, he says: "My preference was to put the Iraqis in charge as soon as we can, and do it with some form of elections ... I just thought it was necessary to rapidly get the Iraqis in charge of their destiny."