Pubdate: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 Source: Toronto Star (CN ON) Copyright: 2007 The Toronto Star Contact: http://www.thestar.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456 Author: Olivia Ward, Staff Reporter DRUG TRADE UNDERMINING EFFORTS, UN SAYS Link Between Opium Profits, Terrorism And Drug Lords Stronger Than Ever An alliance of terrorists and drug smugglers is undermining Afghanistan, as opium profits soar and a bumper crop of poppies is expected by the end of this year, say United Nations experts. "In the south of the country, the vicious circle of drugs funding terrorism, and terrorism supporting the drug lords is stronger than ever," said UN anti-drug chief Antonio Maria Costa. Costa told a meeting of the UN Security Council on Afghanistan yesterday, in the centre-north of the country, progress is being made against trafficking as farmers are "turning their back on drug cultivation." But in five southern provinces including Kandahar -- where Canadian troops are based -- "ever-increasing opium cultivation ... is an issue of insurgency as much as a drugs problem" that "occurs in a security vacuum where illicit crops coexist with other criminal activities that support such cultivation." In an atmosphere of lawlessness, huge amounts of precursor chemicals for producing heroin are being imported into Afghanistan, and last year $3 billion in illicit drug money was "moved into havens where it was laundered and put beyond reproach," added Costa, executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. UN experts and diplomats agreed that while some gains had been made, violence and drug trafficking had worsened in Afghanistan, with risks to civilians increasing. The meeting followed a report on Afghanistan from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, calling for stepped-up international support as the country reaches a "critical juncture." Canadian Ambassador John McNee told the council that "progress is undeniable" since the Taliban were driven from power. But, he added, "insurgency-related violence, driven in part by a tolerance for weak governance and corruption, represents a real obstacle to the development of political, social and economic rights in Afghanistan." And he said credible authority is needed in Afghanistan's provinces: "There must be mechanisms in place to ensure the integrity of officials, and where leadership falters, qualified and capable Afghans must be encouraged to come forward." Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema, who was in New York yesterday, said that an international conference was needed, focusing on the "regional dimension of security and stability of Afghanistan." But the UN secretary-general's special envoy for Afghanistan, Tom Koenigs, said that the Afghan government should seek "local solutions" to the flaring violence. "While insurgency-affected areas are concentrated along the Afghan-Pakistani border, with suicide attackers, facilitators and Taliban commanders continuing to cross over from Pakistan, the insurgency has a distinct local profile from district to district," he said. "It is critical ... for the Afghan government to recognize that alienation along tribal lines has resulted in many cases from past actions of government officials." Pakistani Ambassador Munir Akram said that his country's commitment to peace in Afghanistan was "complete, unswerving and unquestionable ... despite unfortunate media reports." Koenigs urged the Afghan government to make reforms, and said President Hamid Karzai should extend his outreach to the unruly provinces. But he also cautioned Afghan and international forces to "take greater care to ensure that they are doing no harm to civilians -- and are perceived so." Canada has recently been criticized for failure to monitor detainees who are handed over to the Afghan government. And NATO countries have been involved in the accidental killing or wounding of Afghan civilians. "The resulting disaffection and civil unrest, loss of public support, as well as victims' right to justice, place the international effort to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan under additional stress," Koenigs said. But, he added, attacks by militants have spiked, and suicide bombing is taking a high toll of civilians: "Despite some successes by Afghan security forces in detecting and dismantling suicide attack facilitation networks, there have been 27 suicide attacks so far this year -- a figure that exceeds by far the rate in the same period last year. Over 80 per cent of the victims are civilian bystanders." - --- MAP posted-by: Derek