Pubdate: Thu, 11 Apr 2002
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2002 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Dexter Filkins

HOMELESS AFGHAN REFUGEES ALLOWED TO PASS AFTER POPPY FARMERS END PROTEST

KABUL, Afghanistan, April 10 -- Thousands of Afghan refugees began filing 
home today across the country's eastern border after poppy farmers called 
off a protest that had blocked their passage.

More than 10,000 Afghans crossed back into the country from Pakistan a day 
after repatriations were suspended after occasionally violent protests by 
poppy farmers angered over a government campaign to destroy their crops.

The peaceful scene today near the country's main eastern crossing, at the 
Khyber Pass, unfolded amid conflicting reports that local officials had 
persuaded the farmers to call off their protest by promising them more 
money to destroy their crops.

Meanwhile, chaos reigned across parts of the Iranian border, forcing relief 
workers along Afghanistan's southwestern border to divert refugees trying 
to cross there.

The continued fighting along the western border, and the confusing 
situation in the east, highlighted the tenuous hold that the Western-backed 
government of Hamid Karzai exerts over this fractious and war-torn country. 
In addition to the fighting along the border and the protests by the 
farmers, the last week has been marked by violence, intrigue and political 
infighting that shows no sign of abating.

At the Khyber Pass today, the situation seemed to be returning to normal. 
At one point on Tuesday, as many as 25,000 refugees trying to return from 
Pakistan were trapped. Refugee officials said they expected all of those 
refugees to be through the Khyber Pass and into the country by Thursday.

Poppy farmers began protesting this week, when the Afghan government 
mounted a multimillion-dollar campaign, financed almost entirely by Western 
governments, aimed at blocking Afghanistan's return as a major 
international supplier of opium. Since the Taliban government collapsed in 
November, thousands of acres of poppy have been planted, presaging a 
substantial harvest of poppy, and its extract, opium.

For the farmers, the sticking point has been the money the government is 
willing to pay them to destroy their poppy, about $506 per acre, not nearly 
the amount the farmers can earn by taking their crops to the market. So 
far, at least nine people have died in battles with government officials 
trying to destroy the crops.

Even today, the protest by the poppy farmers was wreathed in confusion. The 
Afghan Islamic Press quoted Hazrat Ali, a local warlord in Nangahar 
Province, as saying that the central government had promised to pay farmers 
substantially more, about $708 per acre, to destroy their poppy. This 
evening, a senior aide to Mr. Karzai cast doubt on whether the interim 
government had made such a promise at all.

"I don't know anything about an increase for the farmers," said Ahmed Yusef 
Nuristani, a senior aide to Mr. Karzai.

Along the 50-mile stretch of flat fields that runs between the Khyber Pass 
and the city of Jalalabad, poppy farmers said today that they had quit 
their protest on a promise that the government would pay them a higher 
price to eradicate their crops. Still, many of the farmers seemed to be 
hedging their bets, picking their buds before their time to stay ahead of 
the eradication campaign.

One of the poppy farmers harvesting his crops today was Khan Akbar, a 
36-year-old father of 13. Mr. Akbar was one of the thousands of poppy 
farmers who blocked the highway on Monday and Tuesday, fearful that the 
government was going to take away his only means of support. Like many 
poppy farmers, Mr. Akbar is deeply in debt, which even a good harvest and a 
good market for opium will not allay.

Mr. Akbar was persuaded to quit his protest when the mayor, Zai Niz 
Muhammad, promised him he would take up his case with Mr. Karzai. If the 
government comes to destroy his crops, or does not increase the amount it 
is willing to pay, Mr. Akbar said, he will take to the streets again.

"If the government uses force, we will continue to block the road," said 
Mr. Akbar, who lost an eye in the fight against the Soviet Union in the 
1980's. "We don't have guns. If we did, we would fight."

Mr. Akbar said he did not give much thought to the damage that his opium 
did on the streets of Europe, where it would mostly end up. He would never 
let his own children use the narcotic, he said.

"It goes to Pakistan, London, America, other countries," Mr. Akbar said 
with a laugh. "If opium is bad, why they buy it? It's buyer's fault."

On the western border, only 120 refugees crossed into Afghanistan today, 
most of them far away from Zaraj, a principal crossing point that has been 
swept by fighting.

The situation in Zaraj was so dangerous that relief officials diverted 
refugees to points north. The main fighting pits two local commanders, 
Abdul Rahman and Abdul Jalil, against forces loyal to the government.

On Tuesday, the two warlords claimed to have captured the border town of 
Guldana near the Iranian border in Nimruz Province. The warlords appear to 
be fighting for control of border posts, which they typically use to 
extract money from travelers.

"There was so much fighting, and so much gunfire, that we couldn't let 
refugees cross there," said Yusuf Hassan, a spokesman for the United Nations.
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