Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan agree on anti-drug fight.

MOSCOW, December 8 (Itar-Tass) - The heads of the Russian, Afghan,
Pakistani and Tajik anti-drug agencies signed in Moscow on Wednesday a
joint statement on setting up a Central Asian anti-drug quartet.

"We stated unanimously that Afghanistan will not cope with that
problem alone," the head of the Russian Federal Anti-Drug Service, Viktor
Ivanov, said. According to him, the Afghan people have become the same
prisoner of the situation as the people who have suffered from drugs in
other countries.
"The format of our four-party cooperation is extremely important. We
have vast potentials for to jointly boosting fight against drug
trafficking," Ivanov stressed.
"Unfortunately, NATO which has rather big forces in Afghanistan, does
not take efficient measures to destroy drug production," Ivanov added. He
also noted that "no place for fixing the problem of drug production in
Afghanistan" was found in the NATO strategy approved in Lisbon on November
19.
In accordance with the signed memorandum, Russia, Afghanistan,
Pakistan and Tajikistan agree to "exchange strategic information on
channels of drug trafficking and people involved in illegal drug
trafficking," "to develop a mechanism for planning and carrying out a
special operation to liquidate drug crops and drug laboratories", to
exchange experience and to cooperate on reducing the demand for drugs.
The heads of the anti-drug agencies have agreed to meet yearly. The
next meeting is scheduled for the first half of 2011.
-0-zhe/gor