From: Justin Burke (JBurke@sorosny.org)
Date: Fri Oct 20 2000 - 11:03:16 EDT
UN FOCUSES ON DRUG THREAT TO CENTRAL ASIA
Pino Arlacchi, who is UN undersecretary-general for drug control and crime
prevention, told participants in an international conference
in Tashkent on 19 October that the UN views drugs, crime, and
the arms trade as threats to security in Central Asia.
Arlacchi added that 75 percent of the drugs smuggled to
Europe originate in Afghanistan. Delegates to the conference,
which is co-sponsored by the UN and the OSCE, are to focus on
formulating an integrated approach to combating the drug
trade. Also on 19 October, OSCE chairwoman Benita Ferrero-
Waldner met in Tashkent on the sidelines of the conference
with Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov to discuss the
situation in Central Asia and Afghanistan, Interfax reported.
Meanwhile, Kyrgyz Deputy Minister of National Security Miroslav Niyazov told
parliamentary deputies in Bishkek on 19 October that the
annual profits of transnational groups smuggling drugs from
Afghanistan and Pakistan via Kyrgyzstan may be as high as $1
billion, Interfax reported. He added that heroin is sold in
Kyrgyzstan for less than a 10th of the wholesale price in
Germany. LF
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