STEPHEN LEWIS talks to a spymaster turned novelist who is bringing to York his message that we can beat terrorism.

IF anyone should be able to write an authentic spy thriller about the international fight against terrorism, it is David Bickford.

As the former legal director of MI5 and MI6, he spent much of his working life in the higher echelons of British intelligence dealing with international organised crime, money-laundering, corruption, deceit, betrayal and murder.

It is a world he reproduces in grainy detail in his debut novel, The Face Of Tomorrow. The book does not pretend to be anything other than fiction - but, more than most, David Bickford knows the world about which he writes.

As its title implies, The Face Of Tomorrow is set a few years in the future. John Hammond is the 35-year-old director general of the new G8 International Security Agency - a kind of multi-national CIA whose members are drawn from the G8 countries.

The characters came to David during his travels around the world advising on how to beat terrorism.

The plot involves Kurdish terrorists who want to set up their own home-land, alongside international intrigue surrounding plans for a European army. Mix in a dash of romance between Hammond and French diplomat Charlie and you have all the ingredients of a top-notch thriller.

In the way of spy thrillers written by those in the know, the book has a bleak ending, which draws comparison with Le Carré's The Spy Who Came In From The Cold or Graham Greene's classic The Human Factor.

So have his years in the murky world of intelligence, facing the worst human nature has to offer, turned him into a pessimist?

On the contrary, David Bickford says, speaking on the phone before a book-signing in York tomorrow. "I feel with a book of this sort that should be the ending. But I'm by nature a complete optimist. The future is so unpredictable, but I really believe that eventually we will defeat terrorism."

The world of the spy has changed since the Cold War. Then, it was all murderous cloak-and-dagger stuff conducted far from the light of day, with scant regard for the law or human rights.

Today, however, with terrorists and organised criminals as the main targets, the spy's job is different. It still entails gathering information but now, with prosecution of terrorists and criminals in international courts the ultimate aim, that information has to stand up to scrutiny.

If such evidence is to be used in court, it must be obtained in a reliable and legal way - a nicety which did not tend to trouble Cold War spies.

When David took over as legal director of MI5 and MI6, part of his job was curbing the cult of secrecy and unaccountability in intelligence work, and putting the agencies' information-gathering on a proper legal footing.

Human rights legislation has made this all the more important. In some ways the need for legality hampers the intelligence services. But used properly, due legal procedure could become their biggest weapon, David Bickford believes.

If powerful Western nations are perceived by less well-off countries to be abusing their power by adopting harsh and illegal means to combat terrorists, this will fuel terrorism by creating more hatred of the West and more terrorist sympathisers.

Just look at the hate-filled faces of ordinary Iraqi people, their growing opposition to the occupying American and British troops fuelled by stories of abuse and torture of Iraqi prisoners.

If, however, Western powers are seen to be doing things by the book, the terrorists will be isolated and support for their actions will dwindle.

You are never going to convert hard-line extremists by behaving properly, David concedes. But what you can do is dry up the well-spring of support.

This is why he is opposes the detention without charge of terrorist 'suspects' in Guantanamo Bay and in our own Belmarsh prison. "It undermines their rights and creates more recruits," he says.

Since leaving MI5 and MI6 in 1995, David has advised governments all over the world on countering international terrorism and organised crime.

So he does not underestimate the extent of the terrorist threat. He believes the risk of a major attack on Britain is real and favours ID cards and increased security - including, for instance, more stop-and-search - to make the terrorists' job more difficult, provided such measures are balanced by open scrutiny.

He would also like to see an international criminal court (one to which US soldiers as well as al Qaeda terrorists would be subject); closer co-operation between rival intelligence agencies; and reform of the way in which terrorist cases are prepared for trial. Ultimately, however, victory over terrorism will be achieved only by understanding.

He has much admiration for the United States. "It is a country that has built itself over 300 years into the biggest economic force in the world," he says. "That's been done on the back of drive and initiative and 'going for it', and one admires them for that.

"But that doesn't always leave time for understanding the needs of others within the international community. They have to look out, rather than just looking within, to understand what the have-nots have not got."

In other words, to tackle the underlying roots of terrorism, the international community has to address the ills and grievances that give rise to it.

"You can't just have a war on terrorism," he says. "You have to go for hearts and minds."

Maybe Bush, Rumsfeld and Blair are just beginning to realise that.

The Face Of Tomorrow by David Bickford is published by Pretzel, price £6.99.

David Bickford will be at Borders bookshop in York at 6.30pm tomorrow to talk about his book, sign copies and answer questions.

Updated: 10:03 Wednesday, May 12, 2004