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Article: Afghanistan's opium poppy trade stunted.
- Article from:
- Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL)
- Article date:
- April 7, 2005
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Chicago Tribune. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Kim Barker
BATI KOT, Afghanistan _ Abdul Khaleq Watengul stopped growing poppies this year. He now prunes olive trees for $3 a day.
The nearby opium market, once thriving, is a dusty trail of boarded-up stores and locked doors. Hundreds of men sit nearby, with nothing to do but complain about their unemployment. In Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, people buy poppy seeds only to feed birds or to use in cookies.
The opium poppy trade has fallen on hard times in Nangarhar, once one of the top producers in Afghanistan.
"We have so many problems, you wouldn't believe," said Watengul, 27, whose last name means "flower of ...