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Opium windfall fuels Afghan insurgents: UN
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
Reuters - Nov 16, 2007
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL1631972220071116?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews
Opium windfall fuels Afghan insurgents: U.N.
By Mark John
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Profits from opium fuel the Taliban insurgency,
the United Nations said on Friday, in a new call on NATO to tackle
Afghanistan's burgeoning drugs trade.
The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said the total ex****t value
of Afghan opiates stood at about $4 billion, equivalent to more than
half of the country's legitimate gross domestic product, confirming
estimates it made in August.
Taliban insurgents, warlords and drug traffickers shared the bulk of
that total, while farmers received about a quarter of the total with
district officials taking a percentage through a levy on the crops.
"Since drugs are funding the insurgency, NATO has a self-interest in
sup****ting Afghan forces in destroying drugs labs, markets and
convoys," UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa said in a
statement.
Violence in Afghanistan has steadily increased since the Taliban,
ousted from power by U.S.-led forces in 2001, relaunched their
insurgency two years ago.
"The potential windfall for criminals, insurgents and terrorists is
staggering and runs into the hundreds of millions of dollars," Costa
said.
"Destroy the drug trade and you cut off the Taliban's main funding
source."
GOVERNMENT AGAINST SPRAYING
At a news conference Costa called current opium eradication efforts "a
farce" and said any decision on aerial spraying, which is backed by
Wa****ngton, was one for Kabul.
But the method is opposed by President Hamid Karzai and a number of
NATO states on grounds including its ecological impact.
"We don't want any measures towards eradication that would alienate the
farmers," Zahir Tanin, Afghanistan's ambassador to the United Nations
told the news conference.
The 26-nation NATO alliance has in the past stressed its 40,000 troops
have no mandate to lead drug eradication, but has said it was looking
to do more within its existing remit to sup****t counter-narcotics
efforts by Afghan authorities.
He said the bulk of opium and heroin now moved out of Afghanistan via
two new "Golden Triangles" involving Pakistan and Iran and Turkmenistan.
The UNODC re****t shows Afghanistan accounts for 93 percent of world
opium production and is the biggest narcotics producer since 19th
century China, highlighting the failure of Afghan and British-led
international efforts to tackle the problem.
The wholesale price of a gram of heroin grew with every border crossed,
the re****t noted, rising from $2.50 in Afghanistan itself to $3.50 in
Pakistan and Iran, $8 in Turkey, $22 in Germany, $30 in Britain and $33
in Russia, it said.
(Additional re****ting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Golnar Motevalli)
*
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