Afghan drugs main threat to Russia: official

The chief of the Main Intelligence Department (GRU) of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Lieutenant-General Alexander Shlyakhturov today said the main threat to country's security is drug trafficking from Afghanistan.

''Drug trafficking from Afghanistan by transit via countries of Central Asia and some other countries represents the biggest threat to national security,'' Mr Shlyakhturov told ITAR-TASS on the occasion of the Day of Military Intelligence Agents.

''The fact that its volume is growing from year to year despite the presence of international coalition force in Afghanistan causes special concern,'' he stressed.

The GRU chief said Russia considers the preservation of the authority of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to be a stabilizing element in the development of the situation in the country. ''We consider the preservation of Karzai's authority as a positive and stabilizing element in the development of the internal political situation in Afghanistan and therefore, we will support him,'' he said. He pointed out there was ''a complex and tense situation in Afghanistan, and tendencies of its development are unpredictable,'' adding, ''Everything depends here on a degree of coordination of efforts of the world community on normalization and stabilization of the situation in the country.''

-- (UNI) -- 05DF7.xml

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