CLINTON SEEKS UNITED WORLD ACTION AGAINST DRUGS

ARMED with plans for a 2 billion (Irish Pounds) media campaign to help
stanch the flow of narcotics across borders, President Bill Clinton
yesterday asked world leaders to ''stand as one against this threat''
without blaming each other for the problem.

In an opening address at the UN General Assembly special session on drugs,
Clinton told representatives of about 150 countries, including 35 heads of
state and government, it is time to stop bickering over whether blame for
international drug trafficking lies with countries that demand drugs or
those that supply them.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called the drug scourge ''a tragic reality''
and appealed to member nations to work seriously on finding common ground on
fighting drugs.

''It is my hope that when historians study the work of humankind in drug
control they will write about the next few days as the point at which this
trend was reversed,'' Annan said.

''We must never give in to the human toll illegal drugs are taking on our
societies.''

Also at the session were Presidents Jacques Chirac of France, Ernesto
Zedillo of Mexico, Rafael Caldera of Venezuela, Alberto Fujimori of Peru,
Hugo Banzer of Bolivia and Ernesto Samper of Colombia. Zedillo called for a
''balanced strategy'' to combat trafficking ''so that no one can become the
judge of others and no one feels entitled to violate other countries' laws
for the sake of enforcing its own.''

This is a clear reference to the controversy over ''Operation Casablanca,''
a major US money-laundering sting that led to arrests last month of 42
people - including about two dozen Mexican bankers.

Clinton avoided any direct criticism of other countries' efforts, saying,
''Pointing fingers is distracting. It does not dismantle a single cartel,
help a single addict, prevent a single child from trying - and perhaps dying
- - from heroin. Besides, the lines between countries that are supply
countries, demand countries and transit countries are increasingly blurred.
Drugs are every nation's problem.''

Clinton said a 2 billion (Irish Pounds), five-year media campaign against
drugs would be launched in the United States, targeting young people with a
message that ''drugs destroy young lives, don't let it destroy yours.''
Similar campaigns will be launched in Mexico, Venezuela and Brazil. Clinton
brought along Attorney General Janet Reno; his drug policy adviser.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett