WEST FEARS HEROIN FLOOD

There Are Fears The Taleban Will Release Opium Stockpiles

PAKISTAN-AFGHAN BORDER -- Fears are growing that military strikes and chaos
in Afghanistan could lead to huge increases in the amount of heroin on the
streets of America and Europe.

Afghanistan used to produce more than three-quarters of the world's opium
from vast fields of poppies, particularly in the west and south-east of the
country, both Taleban-controlled areas.

Last year the Taleban declared opium poppy cultivation to be un-Islamic.
Drugs control agencies say the ban has until now been hugely successful.

However, opium stockpiles and processing have not been affected, according
to officials in London and Washington. These may be unleashed into the
Western market place by the Taleban.

Deadly Crop

Afghan farmers have cultivated opium poppies for centuries.

Opium was used locally as a medicine and a narcotic.

During the war against Soviet occupation of the country in the 1980s,
western-backed Mujahadin rebel groups openly trafficked in drugs as a
source of funds to buy arms.

The failure of those groups to agree on power sharing after they took over
in Kabul in 1992 meant that vast fields of poppies were cultivated.

Money from this drugs trade fuelled fighting between warlords. There were
hopes that the Taleban would end poppy cultivation, but instead they taxed
farmers and heroin processors as a major source of money for their government.

Unfortunately, although the Taleban's ban on poppies last year was
welcomed, the United States was concerned at the time with extraditing
Osama Bin Laden in connection with the US embassy attacks in East Africa.

As a result, there was no engagement between the United States and the
Taleban on the drugs issue.

Strikes An Option

Now, with almost all ties cut off and military action a certainty, fears
are growing that the Taleban could release some of the huge stockpiles of
opium still believed to be in Afghanistan.

Officials in Washington and London have been downplaying expectations that
military strikes on drugs warehouses may be part of any future campaign,
but it cannot be ruled out.

As one UN drugs expert put it, where chaos reigns, drugs are freely
available. It is another strong reason for seeking stability in Afghanistan
as soon as possible.