Afghan rebuilding under way

By Susannah Price BBC correspondent at Durani, south of Kabul

Work has begun in Afghanistan on an internationally-funded project to rebuild a key road linking the capital, Kabul, with the major cities of Kandahar and Herat.

It will take less time for people to travel and the bandits won't have time stop the cars, or rob them

Hamid Karzai

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai said that rebuilding the country's destroyed road network will help improve security.

President Karzai was speaking at the official groundbreaking ceremony for the 1,200-kilometre road.

Afghanistan's roads have been destroyed by more than 20 years of fighting. The surfaces are covered in huge potholes, often the tarmac has disappeared, and landmines continue to pose a serious danger.

Karzai praised international donors

It can take hours or even days to drive short distances between cities.

The road reconstruction project is part of an ambitious three-year plan, with money donated by the United States, Japan and Saudi Arabia.

The American ambassador, Robert Finn, called it a tremendous investment.

"Our contributions are a major down-payment on the largest infrastructure project yet in the rebuilding of the country," he said.

"Over the next three years, this project will employ thousands of Afghans and improve the lives of millions more. The different parts of the Afghan family will draw closer together, and opportunities for trade, communication and industry will increase."

President Karzai said roads were the backbone of Afghanistan's reconstruction and he was very satisfied.

There has, however, been criticism of the slow rate that international aid is arriving in Afghanistan, and many point to the abysmal state of the roads as a good example of this.

Lack of stability

But President Karzai said once they his government raised the issue of the roads with the international community, they had moved quickly.

And he outlined the way in which he believed road reconstruction would improve security.

"It will make transportation better. It will make distances less, shorter.

"It will take less time for people to travel and the bandits won't have time stop the cars, or rob them. The police will be able to do their job better, on faster, quicker highways. It's very obvious."

However, the lack of stability could hamper the road building operation itself.

American officials said the new highway would go through areas of military operations, landmines and banditry, and called on the Afghan Government to provide security so that the road reconstruction teams could carry out their work.