AFGHAN TALEBAN USE TRACTORS TO DESTROY POPPY CROPS

JALALABAD, Afghanistan, April 5 (Reuters) - The ruling Taleban militia used
tractors to plough under poppy fields as part of a plan to slash opium
production by one-third in Afghanistan, the world's largest producer of the
drug.

Tuesday's crop destruction, overseen by armed guards, was the purist Islamic
movement's first since taking power three years ago and took place in fields
along the main highway from the Pakistan border to the provincial capital of
Jalalabad and will continue until April 15.

``We are against poppy cultivation and want to eliminate it from the
country,'' said Maulvi Abdul Kabir, governor of Nangarhar province, of which
Jalalabad is the capital.

The Taleban used eight tractors to destroy fields near the road, but those
further away were left untouched.

Guards armed with AK-47 machine guns and a rocket launcher stood close by to
deter possible resistance from farmers upset at losing their crops.

The move is part of efforts by local officials to meet a decree last
September by the Taleban's supreme leader, Mullah Omar, to reduce poppy
cultivation by one-third.

The poppy plant yields opium, which is processed into morphine and then
heroin.

Western anti-drug experts greeted Omar's decree with scepticism because
Afghanistan's opium crop more than doubled last year to 4,600 tonnes from
2,100 in 1998.

Afghanistan has now overtaken Myanmar and produces 75 percent of the world's
opium.

But Taleban officials said the crop destruction should help dispel
scepticism about their intentions.

TALEBAN AGAINST POPPY

Kabir dismissed criticism that the Taleban, which controls 90 percent of the
country including the major poppy-growing areas, was not doing enough to
fight drugs, and called for more help from the international community.

``If there is to be more (poppy field destruction), we need more help from
the international community,'' he said, adding that Afghanistan was too poor
to force farmers to give up growing poppy, which is more lucrative than
crops such as wheat.

``We are not in a position at this time to ask everyone because we cannot
solve all their problems,'' Kabir said.

He also denied that the Taleban tax or profit from opium. The Taleban has
been accused in the West of using drug money to fund its war against the
opposition in the north of the country.

``The big proof is that government land is not used for poppy cultivation,
and when government land is leased, the contract says illicit crops cannot
be cultivated,'' said Kabir.

NO RESISTANCE

The crop destruction went off peacefully, although some farmers complained
and asked who would compensate them.

``We're not happy,'' said Barder-e-Zaman, who lost a crop that would have
yielded about 10 kgs of opium worth about 40,000 Pakistani rupees ($800).

Kabir was not sure how the farmers would be compensated, saying the local
community would help.

Bernard Frahi, the United Nations Drug Control Programme representative for
Pakistan and Afghanistan, called the crop destruction a positive first step.

But it would take until September to show how effective the programme was,
he added.

``Of course, for us it is not sufficient, we would prefer a full
eradication, but if they could stick to that (one-third cut) it would be a
good start,'' Frahi said.