Afghan drug crop down almost 40%
26/04/2005 - 10:47:13Afghan President Hamid Karzai today said the cultivation of opium poppies in Afghanistan was down by between 30% to 40% from last year and appealed for more foreign aid to help impoverished farmers switch to legal crops.
Karzai said the estimate was based on surveys from the United Nations and British officials, who were helping Afghan authorities mount a crackdown. UN officials have said they won’t release estimates of the crop for several months.
Karzai also said Afghanistan needed more than American military bases to secure its future.
“We want a long-term strategic relationship to help us economically, politically and with security,” he said at a news conference in the Afghan capital Kabul.
