The U.S.
ambassador to Afghanistan flew to a previously Taliban-held town in the heart of a poppy-growing region, and told
the ex-Taliban
commander now in charge there that Afghans must stop growing poppies.
Ambassador William Wood drank tea and talked with Mullah Abdul Salaam, a former militant commander who defected to the government last month and is now the district leader of Musa Qala in Helmand province.
U.S., British and Afghan forces retook Musa Qala last monthfollowing 10 months of Taliban rule there.
Wood has said officials discovered US$500 million (euro338.36million) worth of heroin in dozens of labs around Musa Qala, whichis in the world''s largest poppy-growing region.
During Wood''s visit Sunday, he urged Salaam to tell his people to leave behind ``the practice of producing poison,'''' and said poppy production was against the law and Islam. ``In Musa Qala the price of bread has risen dramatically.