TALIBAN STILL PROFITS FROM OPIUM CROP

WASHINGTON The Taliban government in Afghanistan has earned tens of
millions of dollars from the export of heroin and other narcotics
since it proclaimed last year that it was ending opium poppy
cultivation, U.S. officials say.

Cutting off a key source of revenue is part of the Bush
administration's economic campaign against the regime, the officials
said.

The Taliban won acclaim in July 2000 when the leaders banned the
growing of opium poppies. U.N. inspectors say poppy cultivation
largely has been eradicated in areas under the Taliban's control, a
finding confirmed by U.S. narcotics experts.

But the Taliban did not outlaw the possession or sale of opium, and
the existence of stockpiles was known to the United Nations, which
noted in a report in May that Afghan opium poppy production had
leaped to 4,600 tons in 1999 from 2,500 tons in 1998, and was 3,100
tons in 2000.

The Bush administration would now like to cut off that money. One
senior official said targeting stockpiles of opium, the raw
ingredient for heroin, and laboratories was difficult, but Washington
has not ruled out military force.