KABUL, 10 February 2004 — Drug production, combined with terrorism, is the biggest problem facing Afghanistan as it attempts to rebuild after more than two decades of war, President Hamid Karzai told an anti-narcotics conference yesterday.
“The problem of poppy production and the production of heroin and other drugs which are produced from poppies are the major problem of Afghanistan,” Karzai said.
“In addition to that, terrorism is also a problem.” Afghanistan is the world’s biggest producer of opium, used to make heroin, with the number of poppy fields spreading around the country during 2003. Indications are that farmers are intending to plant even more poppies this year, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
The Afghan president used his address to the International Conference on Counter-Narcotics in Afghanistan to call for more aid from donor nations to tackle the burgeoning drug industry here and to stress that his administration was doing its utmost to wipe-out narcotics production.
“We have tried our best to eradicate the poppy and we have tried our best to stop the trafficking and smuggling of drugs but we weren’t successful because still the poppy grows in Afghanistan,” Karzai said, adding that terrorists and smugglers were making millions of dollars from the trade.
“We expect other countries of the world to help us in the struggle,” Karzai said. “We expect from this conference to get help in implementing the national strategy of the country, help financially, technically and to have a sharing of information.”
Afghanistan’s five-year anti-narcotics strategy aims to reduce opium cultivation by at least 70 percent by 2008, crack down on money laundering and boost regional and international cooperation on illicit drugs.
Karzai said Afghanistan would continue to fight drug production within its borders with or without the assistance of other nations.
“Terrorism and drug production in Afghanistan both contribute to damaging the economy of the country,” he said.
Pledging to destroy drug laboratories, keep closer controls on borders to prevent smuggling and improve coordination between government departments and ministries, Karzai also called on the international community to help in destroying the worldwide narcotics market.
The president acknowledged that Afghan farmers, who have struggled through drought, war and poverty are drawn to the lucrative poppy cultivation.
“The problem is that Afghan farmers, due to the last 30 years of conflict and poverty, have had to grow poppies,” he said. So alternative means of livelihood will need to be provided to these farmers otherwise they will return to planting poppies, he said.
“Afghanistan can produce any other things instead of drugs,” Karzai said. Officials have estimated that Afghanistan will need to raise some $300 million at the conference to fight the drugs trade, which is widely acknowledged to be fuelling terrorism.
Some 300 delegates were expected to attend the conference in Kabul, but heavy snowfalls have closed the airport, preventing the arrival of British Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell and head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Antonio Maria Costa.
