Ahamed to participate in ministerial meet in Moscow

Moscow, June 28 : Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed arrived here today to take part in the second ministerial conference on the fight against drugs threat from Afghanistan.

The conference, ''Drugs Routes from Afghanistan,'' is scheduled to address the complex issue of growth in illicit drug trafficking from Afghanistan, and its spread through different routes, from Central Asia to the rest of the world.

Opening the conference, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Afghanistan remained on the brink of becoming a narco-state and called on the international community to form a united front to counter drug trafficking from Afghanistan.

Mr Lavrov said Russia hoped for cooperation from the European Union, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and NATO in this area.

''Only by acting together can we construct a security belt around Afghanistan,'' he noted, adding that cooperation in countering the drug threats should exclude rivalries between participants, because ''only drug traffickers and terrorists will profit from dividing lines. '' Ahead of the conference, the Russian Federal Drug Control Service chief Gen Viktor Cherkesov said Russia will open several dozen offices abroad in order to step up its fight against drug trafficking from Afghanistan, in the next few years.

''We are planning to open several dozen offices in other countries in the next two or three years, and not only in neighbouring states,'' Gen Cherkesov told reporters.

Officers of the service will work where there are issues and problems in the area of international cooperation on the fight against drug trafficking and drug crimes, he said.

He pointed out the service will open its first eight offices in foreign countries this year, mainly ''in Central Asia and, of course, Afghanistan.'' ''All issues related to the establishment of offices in eight countries have been resolved, and technical details are being coordinated,'' Mr Cherkesov said.

He said, according to experts, there were about six million drug users in Russia, but only about 400,000 drug addicts were officially registered.

He stressed that drug circulation remained high in Russia but that the rise in drug abuse had been curbed, largely due to law enforcement efforts.

''Last year, the Federal Drug Control Service eliminated over 600 organised criminal groups dealing in drugs,'' Mr Cherkesov said.

UNI