AFGHANISTAN'S OPIUM PRODUCTION SOARING 'OUT OF CONTROL,' U.N. AGENCY WARNS

Afghanistan's opium production has soared "out of control," the U.N.
drugs and crime agency warned Tuesday, adding that proceeds from the
opium harvest were being used to fund the resurgent Taliban.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is calling on NATO and
Afghan troops to attack heroin labs, opium bazzars and convoys
transporting the narcotic, said Preeta Bannerjee, a spokeswoman for the agency.

Opium production in Afghanistan rose 59 percent in 2006 to a record
165,000 hectares (408,000 acres) -- representing 92 percent of the
world's opium, according to U.N. figures.

"You can say that Afghanistan is pretty much out of control," Bannerjee said.

In contrast, opium poppy cultivation in Southeast Asia's 'Golden
Triangle' -- Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand -- declined by 29 percent
this year 24,160 hectares (59,700 acres) Bannerjee said. She credited
combined efforts by U.N. organizations and aid agencies for helping
farmers find alternative crops for reducing production levels by 85
percent since 1998.

"Afghanistan is practically ... supplying the world's opium,"
Bannerjee said. "There's also evidence that the country is
increasingly hooked on its own opium."

The agency has said that about 2.9 million people were involved in
growing opium, representing 12.6 percent of the Afghan population,
and that revenue from this year's harvest was predicted to hit more
than US$3 billion (€2.4 billion).

Local farmers sell their crops to the Taliban, who resell them and
use the revenues to fund themselves, Banerjee said. Since producers
are subsistence farmers, it remains a question of giving the farmer a
sustainable alternative, she said.

VIENNA, Austria Afghanistan's opium production has soared "out of
control," the U.N. drugs and crime agency warned Tuesday, adding that
proceeds from the opium harvest were being used to fund the resurgent Taliban.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is calling on NATO and
Afghan troops to attack heroin labs, opium bazzars and convoys
transporting the narcotic, said Preeta Bannerjee, a spokeswoman for the agency.

Opium production in Afghanistan rose 59 percent in 2006 to a record
165,000 hectares (408,000 acres) -- representing 92 percent of the
world's opium, according to U.N. figures.

"You can say that Afghanistan is pretty much out of control," Bannerjee said.

In contrast, opium poppy cultivation in Southeast Asia's 'Golden
Triangle' -- Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand -- declined by 29 percent
this year 24,160 hectares (59,700 acres) Bannerjee said. She credited
combined efforts by U.N. organizations and aid agencies for helping
farmers find alternative crops for reducing production levels by 85
percent since 1998.

"Afghanistan is practically ... supplying the world's opium,"
Bannerjee said. "There's also evidence that the country is
increasingly hooked on its own opium."

The agency has said that about 2.9 million people were involved in
growing opium, representing 12.6 percent of the Afghan population,
and that revenue from this year's harvest was predicted to hit more
than US$3 billion (€2.4 billion).

Local farmers sell their crops to the Taliban, who resell them and
use the revenues to fund themselves, Banerjee said. Since producers
are subsistence farmers, it remains a question of giving the farmer a
sustainable alternative, she said.