ßå$tĮТHÏ¿ð
05-23-2005, 08:54 PM
Afghan president rejects U.S. criticism on opium
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Afghanistan's president on Sunday sharply rejected reported U.S. claims that he had not worked strongly enough to curtail production of opium, the raw material for heroin.
"We are going to have probably all over the country at least 30 percent poppies reduced," Hamid Karzai said. "So we have done our job. The Afghan people have done our job.
"Now the international community must come and provide alternative livelihood to the Afghan people, which they have not done so far. Let us stop this blame," he told CNN's "Late Edition."
Ahead of his White House meeting Monday with President Bush, Karzai said he wants greater control over American military operations in his country and punishment for any U.S. troops who mistreat prisoners. He cited reports of prisoner abuse by American forces at the main military prison north of Kabul, the capital.
Production of opium has soared since the fall of the Taliban government in 2001, leading to warnings that the former al-Qaida haven is fast turning into a "narco-state" despite the presence of more than 20,000 foreign troops.
Last year, cultivation reached a record 323,700 acres and yielded nearly 90 percent of the world's supply.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1116795504592_76?s_name=&no_ads=
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Afghanistan's president on Sunday sharply rejected reported U.S. claims that he had not worked strongly enough to curtail production of opium, the raw material for heroin.
"We are going to have probably all over the country at least 30 percent poppies reduced," Hamid Karzai said. "So we have done our job. The Afghan people have done our job.
"Now the international community must come and provide alternative livelihood to the Afghan people, which they have not done so far. Let us stop this blame," he told CNN's "Late Edition."
Ahead of his White House meeting Monday with President Bush, Karzai said he wants greater control over American military operations in his country and punishment for any U.S. troops who mistreat prisoners. He cited reports of prisoner abuse by American forces at the main military prison north of Kabul, the capital.
Production of opium has soared since the fall of the Taliban government in 2001, leading to warnings that the former al-Qaida haven is fast turning into a "narco-state" despite the presence of more than 20,000 foreign troops.
Last year, cultivation reached a record 323,700 acres and yielded nearly 90 percent of the world's supply.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1116795504592_76?s_name=&no_ads=