Lots of readers emailed about this one; on the same day they forced Robert Kilroy-Silk out of his job for stating some simple truths about the Arab world, the British Broadcasting Corporation hired a reporter from JihadTV: Al-Jazeera editor leaves for BBC.

According to an al-Jazeera spokesman, Ibrahim Helal said he had had “a tempting offer” from the BBC.

The charity BBC World Service Trust confirmed that Mr Helal was joining to work on a variety of media training projects over the next two years.

Al-Jazeera has been criticised by the US for airing recorded messages from Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden.