June 17, 2006	Saturday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 20, 1427

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RAWALPINDI, June 16: The US government has offered to help Pakistan upgrade its aircraft fleet engaged in the fight against terrorists and drug traffickers in border areas, Dawn learnt on Friday. Official sources said the offer was made in the recent meeting of the Joint Working Group of the two governments on counter-terrorism and law enforcement. In the meeting officials of the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) and the Interior Ministry impressed upon the US side that beside improved airborne capacity their personnel needed training and specialised anti-terror equipment to give a tougher fight to drug traffickers and terrorists.

They wanted their helicopters to be upgraded and additional fixed-wing aircraft in their aviation wings for assessing poppy cultivation and drug trafficking and terrorists’ routes in the difficult border terrain, the sources said.

To highlight the need of upgrading the helicopters, it was pointed out to the Americans that an ANF helicopter crashed due to its poor lifting capacity. Helicopters could not be used more frequently because that problem made them less effective in long haul operations in Balochistan.

The helicopters also needed heavier guns to combat the well- armed drug smugglers and other criminals, the sources said.

Army helicopters could be hired for the purpose but that is a costly business, according to the sources.

Fixed-wing aircraft in the Interior Ministry and ANF fleets were cost-effective and useful in border patrolling and surveying poppy cultivation but they were said to be few in numbers while their need was rising.

Pakistani officials conveyed their concern to the US side over reports that Afghanistan would reap a bumper poppy crop this year. That would intensify Pakistan’s problems as a drug transit country, they said.

Pakistan itself achieved poppy-free status four years ago.

While acknowledging the importance of seizing narcotics, the US side stressed that prosecuting the traffickers caught was equally necessary. It expressed dissatisfaction over delays on that count, according to the sources.

The Pakistani side observed that the rate of prosecution in the trial court stood at 87 per cent but things got delayed at the higher courts for want of evidence.

In this regard the Pakistani side informed the Americans that existing narcotics testing laboratories in Peshawar and Rawalpindi did not have permanent staff and monitoring capabilities. Establishment of “well-equipped laboratories with well-trained staff” could “provide credible evidence and help in speedy prosecution”, Pakistani officials told the US side.