KABUL - Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Monday criticized corruption by both the country's administration and humanitarian groups, saying none of the aid donated by foreign countries was being distributed fairly.
"I don't think that the money that has been given to Afghanistan has reached the Afghan coutryside in a proper manner," Karzai said at the opening of a conference of major donors.
"We must make sure that corruption in administration, corruption in private sector and corruption in NGOs (non governmental organisations) is handled, in order to respect the donors' taxpayers' money."
Karzai's comments came a day after he appointed a committee of local and foreign members to study a draft law aimed at controlling aid agencies, and amid a perception by many Afghans that the groups are wasting money.
"This money is earned by your people. Your people work hard, and we must respect their hard work and the money they send to us and spend it properly," Karzai said, while adding that Afghanistan was thankful for the aid.
"This is our responsibility, but also the responsibility of institutions and donor countries to deliver the money properly."
The donor conference is aimed at dispensing billions of dollars worth of pledges to the country.
Karzai said combatting corruption, nepotism and red-tape would continue to be his government's priority, as well as fighting Afghanistan's booming drug trade.
The country produces nearly 90 percent of the world's opium and both the United States and the United Nations have warned it could become a fully-fledged "narco-state".
Karzai added the challenges still facing Afghanistan were "immense". "Human indicators for the country remain among the worst in the world. The scale of foreign investment remain very small," he said.
"In pursuing a more aggressive agenda for economic growth, we must accelerate the process of rebuilding Afghanistan by focusing on two spheres: rebuilding the infrastructure and develop human and institutional capacity."
Aid groups expressed concern Friday the proposed Afghan legislation could limit their efforts to rebuild the shattered country.
The move to introduce the laws followed a government probe into the activities of some NGOs.
Afghan planning minister Ramazan Bachardoust quit in protest last year after his proposal to dissolve more than 2,000 NGOs was heavily criticised by his own government.
04/04/2005 11:47 GMT