Pubdate: Sun,  5 Dec 2004
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2004 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Carlotta Gall
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/afghanistan
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/spraying

AFGHAN POPPY FARMERS SAY MYSTERY SPRAYING KILLED CROPS

NIMLA, Afghanistan - Farmers and tribal leaders in this picturesque farming
village in eastern Afghanistan have confirmed statements by the Afghan
government that unidentified planes have been spraying opium poppy fields
with a toxic chemical.

More than a month ago, a dark plane rattled windows through the night
as it flew back and forth, spraying a chemical on houses, orchards and
fields, farmers and tribal elders said Friday. The poppy seedlings
were now turning yellow. The crop would die, they said.

"People are surprised and unhappy," said Muhammad Hasham, 45, a
village elder whose poppy fields began dying after the spraying.

His brother, Hajji Kamaluddin Popalzai, the village chief, said the
government had told them to stop growing poppies, but they were
expecting some assistance to grow alternative crops first. "Just
coming and spraying, that's unfair," he said.

The spraying is something of a mystery, apparently even to the Afghan
government. This week, President Hamid Karzai called in the
ambassadors of Britain and the United States, the two main donors
involved in efforts to combat narcotics in Afghanistan, to explain the
aerial spraying in several districts of Nangarhar Province.

Both countries have denied any involvement, according to Mr. Karzai's
spokesman, Jawed Ludin. But an Afghan government delegation sent to
investigate returned with samples of the tiny gray pellets, the size
of grains of sugar, that were sprayed on the crops, as well as soil
for analysis.

"We do not support aerial spraying as an instrument of eradication,"
Mr. Ludin said at a news briefing this week. "We have never in the
past, at present, and never will in the future authorize the use of
poppy-spraying chemicals."

"The government of Afghanistan has not authorized any foreign entity,
any foreign government, any foreign company, or anyone else to carry
out aerial spraying," he said.

Mr. Ludin said the Afghan government was not convinced that all other
measures to combat narcotics had been exhausted, and it was also
worried about the impact the chemicals might have on people and
legitimate crops. But most important, he said, spraying without the
government's authorization was an infringement of Afghanistan's
sovereignty.

"This is a question of sovereignty, a question of being aware of what
is going on in the country, and of course that is something that we
need to take seriously," Mr. Ludin said.

The American military has denied any involvement or knowledge of the
spraying, and on Wednesday the American ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad,
denied contracting the job to any company or agency.

"I can say categorically that the U.S. has not done it and the U.S.
has not contracted or subcontracted anyone to do it," he said. He
added that he did not know who had done the spraying.

Yet the topic has been under discussion for some months, and the
Americans have argued for chemical eradication, Afghan and foreign
officials involved in the counternarcotics program said.

The United States recently announced that it was providing $780
million to combat illicit drugs in Afghanistan, the world's leading
source of opium, over the next year. Some of the money will go to the
American security firm DynCorp to train and work alongside
Afghanistan's new Central Planning and Eradication Force, a police
force dedicated to eliminating poppy fields.

Afghan officials said they did not know who was responsible, but were
quick to blame the United States.

"The Americans control the airspace of Afghanistan, and not even a
bird can fly without them knowing," said Hajji Din Muhammad, the
governor of Nangarhar, the province where the spraying has occurred.
"There was no need to spray chemicals, and we are not happy about that."

In Nimla, villagers said they thought President Karzai probably knew
about the plan.

"He is like a shepherd to his people and a shepherd always knows about
his sheep," Mr. Hasham said. "If he does not know, he should not be a
shepherd."

Like the other farmers here, Mr. Hasham said he was growing poppy
because he could not survive if he used his small fields to grow wheat.

"I have two fields," he said. "If I grow wheat I get 30 kilos of
grain" - about 66 pounds - "which is not enough to feed my family. If
I grow opium, I can buy enough grain, plus cooking oil and all the
others things we need."

Another farmer, Lala Gul, was busy plowing up his dying poppy
seedlings and sowing wheat instead, but said he would take a loss.

"Since the Americans came to this country, I have not made any money
from my land," he said.

The poorer farmers and landless laborers are now facing ruin, Mr.
Hasham said.

"I will have to sell my land," said Ghulam Sayed, a 65-year-old farmer
and the father of eight. He said he borrowed money to plant poppies on
his one terraced plot and would have to repay the debt at the next
harvest with two kilograms of opium, derived from the plants.

"They destroyed my crop and now I will grow wheat, but I will not be
able to repay the debt," he said. "I already owe someone 10,000
Afghanis" - about $200 - "from last year when they also sprayed."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin