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Taliban denounce U.N. move to scrap anti-drug program |
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September 23, 2000
ISLAMABAD, SEPT 22 (AP) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban criticized the cancellation of an anti-drug program by a U.N. agency, saying Friday that international help was essential to stamping out opium production. Drug eradication efforts "require funds that are beyond the resources of Afghanistan," Mullah Abdul Hamid Akhanzadah, the Taliban's anti-narcotics chief, told a news conference in Islamabad, Pakistan. "We have no option but to turn to the international community for assistance." The U.N.'s Drug Control Program announced last week it was calling off a three-year-old pilot program even though it had slashed opium production by half in selected parts of southern Afghanistan where it was implemented. The U.N. agency cited a lack of money and political support from donor countries and indifference from the Taliban leadership. The Taliban, who have imposed rigid Islamic law in Afghanistan, have often been at odds with U.N. agencies, which have been critical of hardline group and its poor human rights record. But the Taliban are currently making a renewed push for international recognition at the United Nations, and said they not only wanted to continue, but would welcome the expansion of the U.N.'s anti-drug effort. War-ravaged Afghanistan is by far the world's largest grower of the crimson poppy bulbs, which yield the opium used in making heroin. Estimated production fell sharply from 5,100 tons last year to 3,600 tons this year, but the drop is attributed to a severe drought, not Taliban policies. Akhanzadah said international recognition of the Taliban would "open the way for helping to solve economic problems and the narcotics problem." Critics say the Taliban have not done enough to limit drug production and trafficking, noting that the group has been extremely vigilant in imposing many other laws. The Taliban's supreme ruler, the reclusive Mullah Mohammed Omar, ordered a one-third reduction in the planting of poppies last year, and this past July decreed a total ban on poppy production. The Taliban have not yet surveyed farming regions to see if the decree was being observed. But the movement intends to step up enforcement efforts, Akhanzadah said. "There will be all sorts of controls (against growing, selling and using drugs) and anyone caught in any of these activities is a criminal and will be punished," Akhanzadah said. Afghanistan is one of the world's poorest countries, and hard-pressed farmers earn far more money from opium than any other crop. The Taliban came to power four years ago and now control more than 90 percent of the country. But only three countries formally recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan's government. A Taliban delegation is currently at the United Nations lobbying for international recognition. |