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Afghanistan Foreign Minister

'We Need Help from the West'

Recently, NATO High Commander Craddock said that drug traffickers should be dealt with as enemy fighters. SPIEGEL spoke with Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta, 55, about the drug problem in his country and what should be done about it.

SPIEGEL: Do all Afghanistan's drug traffickers support terrorists, as NATO High Commander General Bantz John Craddock seems to assume?

Spanta: That there is a close relationship between the drug mafia and terrorism is a fact. That's why Afghanistan's government has asked NATO to attack drug barons involved in armed combat whenever necessary, even if it means using deadly force. Drug caravans should, above all, be destroyed: heavily armed bands, moving westwards from the south in the direction of Iran.

SPIEGEL: What about drug traffickers with no political ties?

Spanta: They should be arrested and convicted, but not killed. That's a job for the police -- but even for that, we need help from the West.

SPIEGEL: How can one decrease the interdependence between drug traffickers and terrorists?

Spanta: The center for drug production is currently Helmand, where the government controls only the capital and one other district. The rest of the region, which is out of our hands, is controlled by drug traffickers, Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, al-Qaida and bands of kidnappers. By contrast, 24 provinces are now nearly drug free and, this year, there will be 30 percent less drug production throughout the country. So, in those areas where we have functioning political systems, there is also less drug cultivation.

SPIEGEL: More than 100 people have been condemned to death in Afghanistan under your government, but none of them for drug trafficking. Why?

Spanta: I myself am against the death penalty, but Afghan law allows executions for people who have killed multiple times. Drug production and trafficking are not punished with the death penalty.

SPIEGEL: Is President Hamid Karzai still the right man to confront drug production?

Spanta: If anyone comes forward with evidence that the drug rumors about the president's brother are true, I guarantee that he will take the correct action. So far, no one has provided evidence.

Interview conducted by Susanne Koelbl