THE HAGUE, 26/01/07 - Development Cooperation Minister Agnes van Ardenne is concerned about the destruction of poppy-fields in Afghanistan, as proposed by President Hamid Karzai. His approach is "not sensible," the Dutch minister said yesterday.

Afghanistan is one of the biggest suppliers of this raw material for opium production. Karzai recently gave the governors the order to destroy the poppy fields. Van Ardenne says this will land poor farmers in problems, undermine the ISAF reconstruction mission and form a threat for the Dutch soldiers there. "Those that earn from it will fight against it tooth and nail, and our soldiers already have to deal with enough opposition."

Karzai would have to draw up a "total plan," according to Van Ardenne, in which attention was also paid in the dismantling of the opium industry to alternative forms of agriculture, the distribution of seeds, distribution and allocation of agricultural land to farmers. Additionally, the president must tackle the chain of production, processing, trading and transport of opium via criminal law, "starting with the big dealers," said the minister. She hopes to speak with Karzai shortly.