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.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman