Friday, Sep 24, 2004
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By Vladimir Radyuhin
MOSCOW, SEPT. 23. The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has accused NATO of turning a blind eye to the booming opium output in Afghanistan. "Unfortunately, they are doing precious little to reduce even a little bit the narcotics threat from Afghanistan," Mr. Putin said on Thursday. "Nothing is happening there at all." Russia has repeatedly held the U.S.-led peace forces responsible for presiding over an unprecedented growth in drug production in Afghanistan since the overthrow of the Taliban regime. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Afghanistan produced 3600 tonnes of opium last year, nine times the amount of drugs it did under the Taliban. Earlier this year Russia's Defence Minister, Sergei Ivanov, said NATO was happy to ignore the explosion in opium trade in Afghanistan to ensure the loyalty of local warlords. Mr. Putin on Thursday instructed Russia's drug control chief, Viktor Cherkesov, to step up efforts to get the West cooperate in jointly tackling the drug problem in Afghanistan. Western governments "should realise that Afghan narcotics pose a threat to their countries also and stop misleading their own people about this threat," a visibly angry Russian President said in televised remarks. Mr. Cherkesov reported that the Russian narcotics squad seized three tonnes of drugs in a six-day joint operation with Central Asian states.
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