Afghan anti-drugs chief in NATO talks
Afghan anti-drug chief Habibullah Qaderi headed to NATO headquarters today to discuss the booming heroin trade which threatens efforts to stabilise the country.
Qaderi was accompanied to Brussels by Hikmet Cetin, NATO’s top civilian envoy to Afghanistan.
The visit comes as the alliance is drawing up plans to expand its 8,000-strong peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan.
Allied officials say they want to help tackle the narcotics trade but insist that the lead in fighting the problem must come from Afghan national authorities.
Qaderi was appointed last month by President Hamid Karzai to head a new Counternarcotics Ministry to crack down on the multibillion-pound trade that is flooding the world with cheap heroin.
Karzai has called for a “holy war” against the drug trade, calling it a greater threat to the nation’s future than the Taliban or al-Qaida.
