US President George W. Bush today appealed to donor-nations to fulfill their pledges to Afghanistan, saying the United States was doing its part to rebuild the country and shore up its fragile government.
One year after launching the military campaign there, Bush touted US aid for Afghanistan totaling nearly $588 million and said more money was on its way to repair the country's crumbling infrastructure.
"America is delivering on our pledge. We're writing our cheques," Mr Bush said. "Other nations, they need to be good on their pledges. If you say you are going to help the Afghan people, do it. If you've made a pledge, write your cheque. It's important."
Mr Bush did not specifically name the countries he was criticising.
A Tokyo conference in January pledged $1.8 billion this year and $4.5 billion over the next five years to help rebuild the war-ravaged country.
But Afghan officials say that only half of the $1.8 billion pledged for this year has arrived and that most of that has been in short-term humanitarian assistance or to cover the government's recurrent expenses.
US officials have singled out European donors for criticism, saying they have been slow to live up to their financial obligations.