CANADA BACKS CALL TO STEP UP FIGHT AGAINST AFGHAN DRUGS

UNITED NATIONS - Canada and other countries agreed yesterday to back
stepped-up operations to counter drug production in Afghanistan -- a
move that some say will lead to Canadian troops being drawn into
controversial drug-eradication and interdiction activities.

At a high-level meeting on Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Maxime
Bernier put Canada's name to a communique that expresses "great
concern" at the expansion of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan.

The production of heroin-producing opiates reached a "frighteningly
new level" last year, according to a recent UN survey, and Canada is
among countries that say profits from the illicit drug trade are
funding the Taliban and other insurgent groups.

But eradicating drugs is controversial because poor farmers also
cultivate poppies, saying it's the only way they can make a living.

"Breaking this linkage (between drugs production and insurgent
financing) is vital to creating a stable, prosperous and democratic
Afghanistan," the statement released after the closed gathering says.

While Canada's 2,500 troops in Afghanistan are not involved in drug
eradication, the statement says the "participants agreed to
collectively support increased Afghan government efforts to fight the
menace of poppy cultivation."

The endorsement comes as drug-eradication efforts in Afghanistan will
be challenged today, as two respected think-tanks issue in-depth reports.

Dutch-based Transnational Institute will say the UN and western
countries are "overreacting" to the increase in drug production in
Afghanistan. The report warns that stepping up counter-narcotics
operations may lead to violence.

"The increased production is set to fall anyway because it
represented an over-supply that world demand (for drugs) does not
justify," Martin Jelsma, head of the institute's drugs and democracy
program, said.

"Stepping up eradication could further deteriorate the already highly
delicate security situation," Mr. Jelsma said.

An increase in anti-narcotics operations could require at least
logistical support from international forces, Mr. Jelsma said. And he
said a crackdown would increase corruption in the country, as tribal
leaders with contacts in the Afghan government offer bribes to be spared.

"International troops are bound to get mixed up in all those power
plays, and they would be seen as less neutral," he said.