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Afghan president 'obstructing country's drugs problem'

25/07/2008

The president of Afghanistan has been accused of obstructing efforts to solve the country's drugs problem.

Thomas Schweich, a former US counter-narcotics official, accused Hamid Karzai of protecting drugs lords for political reasons.

"[Mr Karzai] perceives that there are certain people he cannot crack down on and that it is better to tolerate a certain level of corruption than to take an aggressive stand and lose power," Mr Schweich told the BBC.

He claimed the country's former attorney-general told him the president had prevented the prosecution of 20-odd officials.

In an article in Thursday's New York Times, Mr Schweich claimed "narco-corruption went to the top of the Afghan government".

Mr Karzai denied the claims, however, stating: "Nobody has done as well as us in the last seven years in the field of counter-narcotics."

He added, though: "I don't blame Afghans for drugs smuggling. They may do it due to helplessness and there may be only a few of them."