KABUL — Freshly installed Afghan President Hamid Karzai was gearing up Wednesday to address tribal leaders on the need to eliminate this war-ravaged country's booming drug trade, an aide said.

Karzai was sworn in Tuesday as Afghanistan's first popularly elected leader before 600 guests, including U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney, the highest-ranking U.S. official to come here since the fall of the Taliban three years ago.

It "was one of the most historical days for Afghanistan and its people,'' presidential spokesman Khaleeq Ahmad said Wednesday. "But we're working hard on the planning for the counter-narcotics conference. Of course, there's work on the cabinet as well.''

Hundreds of elders were expected to gather in the capital Thursday to discuss plans for an American-sponsored crackdown on narcotics, underlining the issue's priority even before Karzai finalizes who should fill the new government's top positions.

Afghan and U.S. officials have only recently begun to heed UN warnings that the soaring cultivation of opium poppies is producing drug gangs that could soon take an unshakable grip on the country.

In his inaugural speech, Karzai listed the fight against narcotics second behind the need to bring security to a country still plagued by insurgents, and warned of a dangerous nexus between terrorism and drug trafficking.

"The relationship between terrorism and narcotics ... are a source of continued concern,'' he said. "A decisive victory over terrorism requires serious and continued co-operation at regional and international levels.''

Karzai has yet to formally announce the details of his toughened anti-drug policy, but western officials working on the plans say it will include stepped-up destruction of opium poppy crops and hundreds of millions of dollars to help farmers switch to legal alternatives.

Britain and the United States are also training Afghan forces to smash labs that process opium into heroin _ Afghanistan is already the world's top supplier _ and to arrest smugglers for trial in special courts to be established within months.

Karzai is also expected to establish a new ministry to take charge of the effort, though it remains unclear who will be appointed to head it. Aides say he will announce his new cabinet within a week.

Karzai was selected, with strong U.S. support, as Afghanistan's interim leader after an American bombing campaign drove the Taliban from power for harboring Osama bin Laden, the chief suspect in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on America.

A UN-sponsored peace plan has seen the country adopt a new constitution and hold the landmark presidential election on Oct. 9, which gave Karzai a landslide victory. Millions of refugees have returned home, and the country and its institutions are rebuilding slowly.