Minister of Counternarcotics Khodaidad of Afghanistan

You mention the Good Performance Initiative but the amount of money available is very small compared to the direct bilateral aid being given by donors to the poppy growing provinces - Canadians in Kandahar, the British in Helmand and the US in several provinces of the South.

General Khodaidad Khodaidad was born in Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan on February 12, 1955.

Khodaidad was appointed to serve as Minister of Counter Narcotics in March 2008.

Khodaidad was active in promoting counter narcotics strategies In August 2007 he spearheaded a narcotics public awareness campaign in 22 Afghan provinces as the first step in the process of eliminating poppy cultivation.

Minister Khodaidad has prior experience as a Brigade, Division, Corps and Operational Group commander.

Despite sustained pressure from the international community, the Afghan government has been slow to tackle high-level officials involved in the drugs trade, diplomats say, but Khodaidad said law enforcement agencies were working on collecting evidence to launch prosecutions.