UNITED NATIONS, June 24 (UPI) -- U.N. officials say the worsening security situation in Afghanistan is affecting preparations for September's parliamentary elections.
Jean Arnault, head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, told the Security Council in a meeting Friday the international response to thwart the destabilization strategy could not be limited to combat operations on the ground.
"It was necessary to attack resolutely the financing, the safe havens where the perpetrators trained and the networks that supported them," he said.
Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the Vienna-based U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, warned that some of the more "dubious characters" involved in drug production and trafficking would run for office in some of the troublesome provinces, perhaps seeking parliamentary immunity.
He added drug-control measures must be viewed in conjunction with efforts to alleviate poverty in the countryside and to restore justice countrywide. That would remove major impediments to democracy, security and development at large, he said.
