Pubdate: Mon, 29 Dec 2003
Source: DAWN (Pakistan)
Copyright: 2003 The DAWN Group of Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.dawn.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/101

HELP SOUGHT FOR CURBING POPPY CULTIVATION

PESHAWAR: Balochistan Governor Owais Ghani here on Monday said Pakistan had 
asked European states and Washington to help curtail poppy production in 
Afghanistan because it would be difficult for Islamabad to control drug 
smuggling from across the border.

"We have asked the US government and European countries to take effective 
measures to help curtail the poppy yield in Afghanistan, otherwise we would 
not be able to check its smuggling into Balochistan," said the governor. 
The Balochistan governor, who was on a private visit to Peshawar, said the 
war-torn country had an all time high production of around 4,500 ton of poppy.

"It is a major cause of concern for us because the bulk of the opium 
produced in Afghanistan finds its way in Balochistan," he said while 
explaining difficulties his government is facing in checking drug smuggling 
from Afghanistan.

Though poppy cultivated in Balochistan had been destroyed under an 
administrative arrangement, it would be very difficult for the provincial 
government to check drug smuggling from the neighbouring country as 
international forces posted in Afghanistan did not take appropriate 
measures to eradicate the illegal crop, he said.

"The long border with Afghanistan in addition to the presence of so many 
criminal gangs are some of the problems making things difficult for the 
government of Balochistan to check human and drug smuggling, and gun 
running," said the governor.

He said the geographical location of Balochistan sharing porous borders 
with Afghanistan and Iran, and a lengthy coastal line along the border were 
a big administrative issue for the provincial government.

The governor refuted the Afghan president's charge that Pakistan had not 
been checking the presence of terrorists linked to Taliban in its tribal 
areas and parts of Balochistan.

"It is a wrong perception. There are no Taliban elements hiding in the 
Balochistan areas close to the border," said Owais Ghani terming incorrect 
a statement of Karzai that Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar was recently 
seen in Quetta.

"They [Afghan authorities] have their own problems," said Mr Ghani, adding 
that "they should concentrate on solving their own problems instead of 
putting blame on others for their failures".

When his attention was drawn towards a recently given statement of Awami 
National Party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan, in which he shared concerns of Mr 
Karzai, the governor rejected them.

He said Pakistani security forces in a recent operation had bulldozed all 
the houses constructed on the border line between the two countries to 
check infiltration of unwanted elements from both sides of the border.

ECONOMIC UPLIFT: He expressed the hope that the uplift initiatives taken by 
the government in Balochistan would help prosper the province.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman