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June 12, 2006

SCO To Help Afghanistan Combat Drug Trafficking

Police unload heroin seized in Jalalabad in February (epa)

June 12, 2006 -- China says the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will join international efforts to stem the flow of drugs coming out of Afghanistan.

China's Xinhua state news agency quotes Deputy Foreign Minister Li Hui as saying the SCO will step up antidrug measures within the framework of its liaison group with Afghanistan with a view to creating an antinarcotics belt around the country.


Xinhua says Afghan President Hamid Karzai is expected to attend the next SCO summit, which will take place in Shanghai on June 15.


Other guests include Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.


The SCO is made up of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Pakistan, India, Iran, and Mongolia have observer status.


Li says Kazakhstan will take over the organization's secretariat from China for the next three years.


(Xinhuanet, Interfax-China)


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