Pubdate: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 Source: National Post (Canada) Copyright: 2006 Southam Inc. Contact: http://www.nationalpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286 Author: Paul Harrington, Agence France-Presse, with files from news services Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) UN PLEADS FOR HELP TO FIGHT OPIUM TRADE Southern Afghanistan BRUSSELS - The UN drugs chief called yesterday for military action by NATO troops to destroy Afghanistan's resurgent opium industry. "In the turbulent southern region, counter-insurgency and counter-narcotics efforts must reinforce each other so as to stop the vicious circle of drugs funding terrorists and terrorists protecting drug traffickers," Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said in Brussels as he presented details of the office's annual opium survey. "I call on NATO forces to destroy the heroin labs, disband the open opium bazaars, attack the opium convoys and bring to justice the big traders. I invite coalition countries to give NATO the mandate and resources required. "This report is not pleasant reading." But Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the NATO Secretary-General, rejected the demand. "NATO does not have and is not seeking a leading role in the indeed very important fight against narcotic trafficking," he said. "I think it's a wrong approach." The alliance has attempted to confine its role to military action and reconstruction, leaving the fight against drugs to the Afghan authorities. The UN report estimates opium cultivation increased by 59% for 2006, leading to a bumper crop of 6,100 tonnes. Mr. Costa was in Brussels for talks with Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European Union's external relations commissioner, and Habibullah Qaderi, the Afghan Minister of Counter-Narcotics. The UN drugs chief told a news conference after the meeting that the fight against drug production in Afghanistan must be linked to fighting poverty in the battle-scarred nation. "In a land as poor as Afghanistan, farmers need sustainable, legal forms of income to resist the temptation to grow opium," he said. Mr. Qaderi conceded that Afghanistan needs to do more to tackle corruption, but said its allies also need to do more to help local security forces and promote rural development. Ms. Ferrero-Waldner said the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, is "the biggest contributor in the fight against poppy cultivation, and in particular, to the creation of alternative livelihoods. "We can point to some real success stories," she said. "Where governance, security and development have improved, cultivation has dropped. But clearly, this year's overall increase in cultivation is disappointing." Afghanistan is estimated to supply 92% of the world's opium. The value of its 2006 crop is expected to top US$4-billion, up from US$2.7-billion in 2005. This is "making a handful of criminals and corrupt officials extremely rich," Mr. Costa said. "This money is also dragging the rest of Afghanistan into a bottomless pit of destruction and despair." Washington is also worried that heroin is being used to fund the Taliban insurgency. U.S. and European efforts to curb Afghanistan's drug trade have been ineffective, a State Department official said in Washington yesterday. To counter the drug trade, the Bush administration will seek to centralize drug-eradication efforts in Afghanistan and urge leaders there to fire corrupt officials, the official said. The administration is also discussing with NATO officials whether to let the organization's troops be used more in eradication efforts. Last week, the U.S. Senate voted to step up Washington's efforts to fight Afghanistan's flourishing production of opium poppies, setting aside US$700-million to fund the Defence Department's counter-narcotics measures. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman