Reprinted from DAWN, Pakistan's Largest Media Group

ISLAMABAD July 11: The Afghan high officials on Narcotics and refugees affairs on Tuesday held meetings with Afghan support group ambassadors in Islamabad and chief of Rabita Alam Al Islami to discuss drugs and refugees situation with them.

According to an official spokesman of the Afghan embassy in Islamabad, Maulvi Abdul Hamid Akhunzada, head of Afghan commission on Narcotics, had a detailed meeting with the Afghan support group delegation comprising eight European Union countries and apprised it about the elimination of poppy cultivation programme success in his country.

Akhunzada, who travelled here from Kabul told the Afghan support group that the international community fully appreciated the steps taken by his country for the elimination of centuries-old poppy growing, it however remained oblivious of the cost that the people of the poppy cultivation areas were paying for it.

He made an offer to the European countries to accept the opium stocks seized by his government for use in medicine etc and give the Taliban government proper compensation for it.

He told the delegation that provision of alternate means of earning/living to the Afghans were essential to relieve them fully of their centuries-old narco business. He appealed to the world community specially the west to invest in productive projects in Afghanistan in order to provide job opportunities to the starving Afghans.

The Afghan support group leader on this occasion assured the Afghan Anti-Narcotic chief for provision of sustainable assistance for infrastructure rehabilitation. He also appreciated the concerted efforts that the Taliban administration had undertaken in weeding out the menace of poppy.

Maulvi Abdul Ghaffar Qureshi, attache on refugees, called on chief of Raibta Alam Al Islami Rahmatullah Nazir Khan and apprised him of the plight of the internally and externally displaced Afghan refugees.

He regretted that while the Christian community and the western countries were extending humanitarian help to mitigate the sufferings of Afghan DPs, the attitude of the Muslim states was discouraging.