InfoAnda - Drugs pose huge challenge for Afghan poll victor

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Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail Yahoo! Search Search: Sign InNew User? Sign Up News Home - Help Navigation Primary Navigation Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Secondary Navigation Australia China India Indonesia Japan Malaysia Philippines Thailand Vietnam Search Search: Drugs pose huge challenge for Afghan poll victor AFP - Wednesday, July 29 GARMSIR, Afghanistan (AFP) - - Two towering piles of poppy seed smoulder in the baking desert of southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, the heartland of the nation's billion-dollar illicit opium industry. ADVERTISEMENT Seized by Afghan forces working with US Marines, attempts to burn the damp seeds failed, so Harrier fighter jets dump thousands of pounds of explosives on the loot, sending a mushroom cloud of smoke and flames into the air. It is a dramatic pyrotechnics display for visiting US and Afghan dignitaries who have gathered in Garmsir district for the show of force. But battling a trade which bankrolls Taliban insurgents and is equivalent to a third of Afghanistan's official gross domestic product will be a massive, complex task facing the victor of the August 20 presidential poll. Compounding the problem is the high-level collusion believed to be involved, with Helmand governor Mohammad Ghulam Mangal alleging that many of those standing in simultaneous provincial elections could be backed by drugs money. "The money that comes from narcotics is a huge amount of money, you cannot get it from any other business," Mangal told AFP in Garmsir. "So this money can be used to fund (insurgent) activities, to fund the war, and it is also possible that this money is used by some people to carry out their election campaigns." Afghanistan supplies more than 90 percent of the world's opium, which is the raw ingredient of heroin. The United Nations values the potential export value of Afghan narcotics at about 3.4 billion dollars a year. Most of the opium comes from areas such as Helmand, where the Taliban hold sway and fund their increasingly deadly insurgency with drugs profits, netting the militia as much as 100 million dollars a year, Afghan officials have said. Ahmad Wali Karzai, whose brother President Hamid Karzai seeks re-election next month, has been accused repeatedly of drugs trafficking, although he denies all charges. Under the 1996-2001 Taliban government, opium production in fertile valleys plummeted, but after the 2001 US-led invasion toppled the Islamists, the trade soared, with production peaking at 8,200 metric tons in 2007. Production dipped by six percent in 2008 compared to 2007, the annual UN drugs report said, but years of largely US-driven anti-narcotics policies have failed to make any significant dent in the trade, forcing a rethink. "Once there was a focus on alternative livelihoods for farmers, but it did not work," said Mangal. "Second there was a time when the only focus was on eradication and that didn't work either. My strategy focuses on all aspects." He plans to return the province to the bread basket it was -- through public awareness, alternative seed distribution and law enforcement. US envoy Richard Holbrooke in June slammed the last American administration's policy to eradicate poppy crops as "totally ineffectual", destroying farmers' livelihoods and spawning Taliban sympathisers. The administration of President Barack Obama plans to channel money to agriculture and alternative crops for poppy farmers, most of whom are poor peasants with no links to the wider drugs trade. Counter-narcotics minister General Khodaidad says, however, that the government will pursue eradication, with or without US help. "We should have some pressure on the people not to grow poppy... It supports the drug lords, it supports the terrorists," he said. Officials claim some successes. While cultivation was spread across 21 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces in 2007, poppy crops are now grown in 16 provinces and heavily concentrated in just seven. Sixty percent of production is in Helmand, according to UN statistics. As the elections approach, thousands of extra troops have deployed to the south to try to wrest back insurgent strongholds. Forces have also targeted the drugs laboratories and made large seizures. But trying to wean one of the world's poorest countries off its top money spinner when there are precious few alternatives will be a momentous task. Afghan political analyst Haroun Mir doubts the victor of the presidential election will take too harsh a stance on the trade, given the uneasy alliances that candidates are forced to make to come to power. "They are trying to reach out to influential people, and indeed drug lords in Afghanistan are very influential," Mir told AFP. Email Story IM Story Printable View Blog This Sign in to recommend this article » 0 users recommend Related Articles: Asia Pacific Third case of Tamiflu-resistant swine flu in JapanAP - Wednesday, July 29 Chinese leader stresses ethnic unity to minoritiesAP - Wednesday, July 29 Officials: Taliban recruited children as bombersAP - Wednesday, July 29 China says it seizes metals bound for NKoreaAP - Wednesday, July 29 US, China have pointed questions in privateAP - Wednesday, July 29 Enlarge Photo Drugs pose huge challenge for Afghan poll victor Most Popular – Asia Pacific Viewed Doctor gave Jackson drug that killed him: CNN Ex-boxing champ Forrest shot in back and killed Lost love letter reunites couple after 16 years Police raid Vegas home of Jackson doctor Rare Angolan antelope tracked by research team View Complete List » Search: Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte Ltd. (Co. 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