Live and let live for Afghan warlords and drug barons

By John Fullerton

Tuesday February 5, 10:12 PM

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghanistan's interim government has adopted a live and let live policy towards old Taliban foes, the movement's warlord allies and drug barons who bankrolled the hardliners' six-year rule, a senior official said on Tuesday.

"If these people hand over their weapons, agree to cooperate, and to live quietly, then we will tolerate them," said the official, who asked not to be named.

Since the Taliban fell in December to the double blows of Afghan ground forces and U.S. air strikes launched in the wake of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, the new interim government has been trying to extend its authority by persuasion rather than force.

It was not merely a lack of military resources that dictated this softly-softly approach, but a realpolitik grounded in the country's age-old ethnic and tribal rivalries and traditions.

"We don't like to refer to someone as a warlord if he's willing to disarm, willing to live peaceably, and willing to accept the authority of the Kabul government," said another official of Kandahar's regional administration closely involved in the pacification project.

It does not always work. In northern areas, Uzbeks and Tajiks have skirmished, and in the east, local warlords bloodily repulsed fighters loyal to a new Kabul-appointed governor.

Attempts to win over dissident Taliban commanders in central Uruzgan province collapsed last month when U.S. ground forces were reported to have mistakenly attacked and killed members of a delegation trying to win over the diehards.

An anti-Taliban commander, Abdul Qadoos, was reported to have been killed.

IMMENSELY WEALTHY

But there have also been notable successes.

One has been the contentious issue of Haji Bashar, widely regarded as immensely wealthy, an alleged opium smuggler on a vast scale and a financial supporter of Taliban rule with his own private army.

The officials say he has since handed over thousands of arms, and has pledged to give up opium production and trafficking, and to live quietly in Maiwand district northwest of Kandahar.

"Haji Bashar is immensely rich," said the first official. "I don't think he needs the opium. And I can tell you he hasn't planted a single opium seed this season, and he has forcefully warned farmers in his area not to do so."

It was rumoured in Kandahar that Haji Bashar was sitting on a huge opium stockpile -- the raw material for heroin.

"He tells us it isn't so. He says if we find anything, we're welcome to it."

Haji Bashar had also helped recover 10 U.S.-made Stinger shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles and handed them over to U.S. officials in 1991. This too had to be taken into account.

The missiles had been distributed to anti-Soviet guerrillas in the 1980s and there has been concern in Washington that they might find their way to guerrillas elsewhere.

"He's a very prominent member of the Noorzai tribe, one of the biggest Pashtun tribes in the country. We don't want to start a long and destructive feud with the Noorzais," the official said.

Tribe, clan and family were all issues that required delicate handling.

"Haji Bashar has been interrogated by the Americans and we have questioned him," the first official said.

"We're happy, the Americans are happy. Everbody's happy," he said.