AFGHANISTAN - Apr 6 - Karzai For Holy War On Opium Trade.

Pres. Karzai urges Afghans to join a holy war against drugs, as opium poppy farmers protest for a second day against a government initiative to eradicate their crops. (Afghanistan is the world's biggest producer of opiates and supplies the opium base for about 95% of the heroin consumed in the UK). At a press conference at his Kabul palace, Karzai call on tribal elders and theologians to join the struggle, saying: "A jihad should start across the country. We must rid this country of poppy and return Afghanistan to legitimate forms of agriculture". He says the government aims to eradicate 25% of the poppy crop this year, which is on track to beat last year's bumper harvest that generated about $2.5bn for Afghan farmers and traffickers, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. (The government has begun eradication efforts in some southern provinces, where the bulk of the country's poppies are grown. That sparked protests in the past two days in the eastern province of Nangarhar. Differences of opinion over tackling the drug problem caused tensions between the government's foreign allies. Karzai said the government had made a "mistake" in 2002 by paying poppy-farmers to eliminate crops. The [pounds sterling]21m programme, which was funded by and implemented together with the UK government, has been criticised by other Western donors and some development organisations for spurring farmers to plant poppies in the hope of compensation).