DATE=4/10/2002

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=AFGHANISTAN / DONORS MEETING (L-O)

NUMBER=2-288592

BYLINE=ALISHA RYU

DATELINE=KABUL

INTERNET=

CONTENT=

VOICED AT=

INTRO: A two-day international donors meeting in the Afghan capital,

Kabul, ended today (Thursday) without a clear-cut answer to the interim government's

request for immediate funding. As V-O-A's Alisha Ryu reports from Kabul,

the government says it is facing a cash shortage so severe, it could

undermine the future of Afghanistan.

TEXT: At the start of the meeting Wednesday, the Afghan interim government

chairman, Hamid Karzai, bluntly told donor nations and aid agencies that if

they did not come through with the money needed to run the government and

for reconstruction, Afghanistan would again turn into a breeding ground for

terrorism.

On Thursday, nine countries - Turkey, South Korea, India, Italy, Britain,

the Netherlands, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Denmark - promised to deposit nearly 50 million

dollars into a World Bank-managed trust fund to enable the government to pay

its bills.

That is still 35-million dollars short of what the Karzai administration

says it needs for the next three months to keep the government afloat. But

Finance Minister Hedayat Amin-Arsala says he understands the international

community's need to be convinced the government can handle aid money wisely.

/// AMIN-ARSALA ACT ///

We are grateful for the additional support offered to us over these past two

days by the international community. But we acknowledge firmly that this

support can be as good as the promise we have made to ourselves. This is a

promise to build a transparent and an accountable government.

/// END ACT ///

The donors Thursday did not set a timetable for when the money would be

deposited and made available. Government officials say they are hoping it

will happen in the next two weeks.

But even if the money comes in on time, it will have to be used simply to

keep up with salaries and day-to-day expenses of the administration. There

will still be no money available for badly-needed reconstruction projects

or to pay for national security - a situation which officials fear could turn

Afghan hopes into anger and disappointment.

Without aid, Mr. Karzai says he has little hope of establishing central authority and

improving security. But observers say donors are reluctant to hand over

money to a government that has yet to bring security and stability to the

country.

Only a fraction of the four-point-five billion dollars pledged in January at

the Tokyo aid conference has trickled in so far. Most of that has already

been spent on emergency food and refugee assistance. (Signed)

NEB/AR/SAB