DROUGHT HITS OPIUM OUTPUT

Opium poppies: A major source of foreign currency The United Nations drug
control agency says opium production in Afghanistan has fallen by nearly
30% since last year.

But despite the ruling Taleban's anti-drug stance, the agency says
Afghanistan remains the world's largest producer of opium.

The executive director of the UN Office for Drug Control and Crime
Prevention, Pino Arlacchi, said the reduction in output was mainly due to
drought in the region.

He the agency had decided to cut its presence in Afghanistan because of a
lack of cooperation from the Taleban.

"Given the lack of financial and political support, we are going to reduce
our presence in the country," Mr Arlacchi said. "The Taleban turned out to
be quite a difficult partner," he added.

Smuggled

In July, Mullah Mohammad Omar, the supreme leader of the Taleban, declared
a total ban on opium poppy cultivation throughout Afghanistan.

But the annual UN survey showed that more than 3,000 tonnes of raw opium
were produced this year in the country.

It takes 10 tonnes of opium to produce about one tonne of heroin.

Mr Arlacchi estimated that around half of Afghanistan's heroin is consumed
in Pakistan, Iran and other neighbouring countries, while the remainder is
smuggled into Europe.

Border Controls

The UN drugs control agency said it would now concentrate on stricter
border controls with neighbouring countries.

Mr Arlacchi praised Tajikistan, which has seized 800 kilos of heroin in the
last six months, as part of a programme aided by his agency and Russian
border guards.

He said these drugs seizures were almost five-times more than large
European nations managed to seize in a whole year.

Cash Crop

In poverty-stricken Afghanistan, opium poppies are the most lucrative crop
farmers can grow.

The tax paid by opium farmers is also an important source of revenue for
the Taleban. Opium is also one of Afghanistan's few sources of foreign
currency.

The Taleban says it wants to eliminate production, but as a poor country
subject to sanctions, it needs international support to carry out crop
substitution schemes.