Norway has no desire for dialogue with bin Laden

On Wednesday 27 August, the Norwegian News Agency (NTB) published an article entitled “Norge vil ha dialog med bin Laden” (Norway wants dialogue with bin Laden), which was published in a number of media today. NTB based its article on an interview with State Secretary Raymond Johansen of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs published the same day in the Norwegian daily Dagsavisen. The title of the NTB article gives the wrong impression of Norwegian policy. Norway has no desire for dialogue with Osama bin Laden or the al-Qaeda terrorist network. Thus, the title of the article does not correctly reflect what Mr Johansen said to Dagsavisen.  

“Norway has no desire for dialogue with bin Laden. What I said to Dagsavisen was that you don’t make peace with your friends, but with your enemies. At the same time I stressed that I have no illusion that bin Laden will come to the negotiating table,” said State Secretary Raymond Johansen of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

“A number of criteria must be met if we are to engage in dialogue with parties to a conflict. A key criterion is that the parties themselves want such dialogue. I pointed out to Dagsavisen that I don’t think that Osama bin Laden and those associated with al-Qaeda are interested in dialogue. Therefore it is completely incorrect to give the impression that Norway desires dialogue with bin Laden,” said Mr Johansen. 

The Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs issued a statement today denying that Switzerland has proposed a dialogue with bin Laden, as a number of media have claimed.