NEWPORT MP Paul Flynn (pictured) today demanded Osama bin Laden be put on trial for his terrorist crimes - not killed by Allied soldiers.

Just a day after Downing Street signalled it would be in order for British commandos to kill the terrorist leader in an exchange of fire, the Newport West MP backed 41 other MPs in demanding that he should be tried by the United Nations instead.

Mr Flynn, MP for Newport West, said a special court should be set up to try bin Laden if and when he is captured.

The motion says: "The creation of such a court will clearly signal to the international community that the pursuit of those responsible for these atrocities is an international endeavour on a judicial basis."

Yesterday Mr Flynn challenged the government over its claim the Taliban is responsible for most of the heroin on the streets of Britain.

He told Home Secretary David Blunkett it came from the Northern Alliance - the "partners" of the US-UK alliance that wants to topple the Taliban and dismantle the terrorist network controlled by Osama bin Laden.

Mr Flynn made his claim at Home Office questions after the UN had admitted opium cultivation in territory controlled by the opposition Northern Alliance in north eastern Afghanistan had doubled last year.

Tony Blair says 90 per cent of the heroin on the streets is from Afghanistan. But Mr Flynn told ministers in the Commons that 80 per cent of the heroin in Afghanistan was now produced by our "partners, the Northern Alliance", adding: "When one source dries up another one falls in its place."