TALIBAN TO LIFT OPIUM BAN IF U.S. ATTACKS, U.N. SAYS

WASHINGTON - Afghanistan's dramatic drop in opium production will probably
be reversed as a result of the war on terrorism, U.S. and U.N. officials said.

U.N. officials said the Taliban government in Afghanistan has told farmers
they can once again produce opium, the raw material for heroin, if the
United States launches an attack on the country, reversing its position
last year when the group's leader said drug cultivation was "un-Islamic."

Afghanistan had been the world's leading producer of opium before the
Taliban, citing Islamic religious principles, banned it in July 2000,
resulting in a 97 percent drop in production.

Opium had been an important source of revenue for the Taliban as they
fought an opposition coalition in the northern part of the country.

Drug control officials said the decision will probably result in a boom of
opium cultivation beginning in about two weeks, the start of growing season.