UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- The head of a U.N. Security Council panel overseeing sanctions against al-Qaida and the Taliban said Friday Afghanistan was at a "critical juncture."
Ambassador Heraldo Munoz of Chile, head of the council's sanctions committee reporting on a just-completed visit to Afghanistan his colleagues "feel that Afghanistan is at a critical juncture in terms of advancing towards normalcy and stability and facing enormous challenges and threats."
"First and foremost," he said, was "terrorism on the part of the al-Qaida remnants, particularly in the south of the country." Another problem was "factionalism, particularly in the north on the part of warlords who want to keep their small parcels of power, land and their small private armies, and obviously do not necessarily like the idea of a central state."
Munoz also said the increased drug production and drug trafficking linked to al-Qaida.
"There is indeed a growing alliance a between the Taliban and drug traffickers," he said. "The Taliban are getting funding by letting through the drug traffickers and are also purchasing arms in exchange for drugs."
