Afghanistan is the world's leading producer of opium. Ninety percent of the heroin found on the streets of Europe and the United States can be traced to poppy crops in the mountains of the war-torn central Asian state.

After the Taliban government was removed by U.S. forces following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks Britain was put in charge of the international community's counter-narcotics effort in Afghanistan. Although thousands of acres of poppies have been destroyed, the former Soviet vassal state now produces more opium than ever.

The Senlis Council, a respected international security and development think tank with offices in Kabul, says Britain is to blame for pursuing counter-productive anti-drugs policies that have alienated local farmers and fueled support for Taliban and al-Qaida insurgents in the south of the country.

Based on interviews with farmers in the Helmand province, where 3,300 British troops will arrive over the coming months, the group claims that U.K. counter-narcotics officers promised local farmers $350 for every fifth of a hectare of poppies they destroyed.

"These farmers kept their side of the deal and eradicated their crops, but the British Government did not keep their word," said Mohammad Gull, a local representative from the Sharwali District in Helmand who was involved in the initial negotiations with the British representatives. "In our culture this is very dishonorable and we are very angry."

Gull told the Senlis Council he had over 400 checks in his possession which farmers had been unable to cash because of insufficient funds in the account. In total, the farmers allege they are owed $21 million and are planning to sue the British government for the money that was promised them.

British soldiers have started arriving in the south of the country as part of a 21,000-strong NATO peacekeeping force that is slowly fanning out from the capital Kabul. Securing the lawless province of Helmand is key to the reconstruction process in Afghanistan, not only because it is one of the main poppy-growing regions but because of the strong Taliban presence.

The Senlis Council, which Sunday released a report on the escalating security crisis in Afghanistan, believes British troops are in for a rude reception from furious locals when they arrive.

"The farmers of Helmand province are telling us that they mistrust the British and that they are angry at not being paid as promised," said Executive Director Emmanuel Reinert. "This makes the latest British plan for securing Helmand a military and political fantasy. They will not gain support from local farmers due to the wholesale elimination of any good will for the British presence there as a result of this bad debt."

The security situation in the south of the country, where Taliban and al-Qaida forces have re-established strongholds four years after they were almost crushed by U.S. forces, has worsened dramatically in recent months. In the last year, over 1,500 people have been killed by the hardline Islamist groupings, with suicide bombings increasingly used to bring death and destruction. Most of the victims have been Afghan soldiers and civilians, but American and European troops are also being targeted with increasing frequency. Earlier this month, a roadside bomb killed four U.S. marines on patrol in eastern Afghanistan.

The security situation in the south of the country, which provoked a lengthy debate in the Netherlands about whether to send 1,200 troops to the Uruzgan province, risks becoming worse before it becomes better.

The senior Taliban commander in the Helmand province has vowed to unleash a brigade of 600 suicide bombers against the British Army when it arrives. "We are happy that they are coming to Helmand," Mullah Razayar Noorzai told Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper. "It is both a trial and a great honor for all Muslims. We will now get a fair chance to kill them."

In a telephone interview from Kabul, Jane Francis, Director of Communication at the Senlis Council, described the security situation in the south of Afghanistan as "terrible."

"People say they are totally against the idea of Westerners coming in. There is total mistrust and they think the troops are just arriving to destroy their crops and bomb them. British soldiers will find themselves in a pretty volatile situation when they arrive in Helmand."

The Taliban has picked up support from the local population by pledging to protect the opium trade and the farmers whose livelihoods depend on the sale of poppies. "Men are coming to sign up to fight at the frontline," claimed Mullah Razayar. "Women are bringing their sons, and giving us their jewelry to sell and buy weapons to enable us to fight these infidel invaders. We have so much support here from the locals -- more, probably, than the British soldiers have back in London."

Francis believes the Afghan government and the NATO countries that enthusiastically back it are making a historical mistake by focusing on opium eradication at all costs. "It is counter-productive to take people's livelihoods away from them and not give them anything in return. It is a policy that just doesn't work."

The think tank, which also has offices in Brussels, Paris and London, favors a policy of licensing opium crops for medicinal use, as in many Western countries. If regulated strictly, the group says the policy could lead to cheaper morphine supplies for developing countries, steady incomes for Afghan farmers and less heroin in European and American cities.

The British Ministry of Defense was asked to comment on the Senlis Council's allegations of broken promises to Afghan farmers but failed to reply.

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