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DATE=9/10/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=AFGHAN DRUGS (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-253706
BYLINE=AYAZ GUL
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO:  A new report by the U-N Drug Control Program 
(UNDCP) says Afghanistan has produced more opium -- the raw 
material used to make heroin - this year than any other 
country in the world.  Ayaz Gul has the story from 
Islamabad.
TEXT:  The U-N report says Afghanistan so far this year has 
produced an estimated 4,500 metric tones of opium -- 70-
percent of the world's opium production.  In addition, the 
study says 96-percent of cultivation this year occurred in 
the areas controlled by the dominant Taleban Islamic 
movement.
The U-N Drug Control Program representative for 
Afghanistan, Bernard Frahi, says the area under poppy 
cultivation increased by 43 per cent.  He describes the 
development as alarming.
            // FRAHI ACT//
      As you see, it has been a dramatic increase and we 
      have all reasons to be anxious and to be worried 
      about the expansion of opium poppy cultivation in a 
      single country.
            //END ACT//
Mr. Frahi says there are many reasons for the dramatic 
increase.  He says bad weather in 1998 affected the poppy 
harvest in the country, which forced farmers to expand 
areas of poppy cultivation this year. Moreover, he says, 
despite some positive signals, the Taleban movement has 
failed to enforce a two-year old decree that bans poppy 
cultivation in the country.
U-N officials also say the eradication of the opium crop is 
unlikely, given the Taleban's apparent unwillingness to 
take a strong stand against it.  The officials say the 
Taleban, for example, have taken no steps to close the 
markets in the countryside where poppy is traded.  They 
also say the Taleban charges a ten percent tax on all 
crops, including opium, which almost legitimizes its 
cultivation.
The Taleban, which controls most of the war-torn 
Afghanistan, says the country needs international 
assistance that can provide Afghan farmers with the money 
to plant crops other than opium.  The hard-line Islamic 
movement also says it wants recognition from the United 
Nations.  Taleban leaders believe that U-N recognition will 
open the floodgate of aid to Afghanistan.
Afghanistan's two-decades of war have devastated the 
country and made refugees of a large part of its 
population. (Signed)
NEB/AG/KL
10-Sep-1999 20:49 PM LOC (11-Sep-1999 0049 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.