By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent

United Nations -- U.N. special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said February 6 that "time is really of the essence" in increasing international aid contributions to Afghanistan and enlarging the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the country.

In a speech to the Security Council, Brahimi said that "Afghanistan has gone some way on the road toward peace and stability" since the agreement between Afghan's factions was reached in Bonn two months ago and the Interim Administration was inaugurated "a mere 6 or 7 weeks ago."

"But the road is still very long and fraught with danger. The Afghan people are tired -- indeed exhausted -- by the conflicts that have destroyed and threatened the very existence of their country," he said. "They want peace. And they know that they still need the support of their friends and neighbors, as well as the support of the international community as a whole."

"They know -- even the most modest amongst them -- that in mobilizing and channeling that help, the United Nations has a central role to play," Brahimi said.

Brahimi said he could not over-emphasize the need for the pledges made at the Tokyo conference to be followed up with actual cash now. "The Interim Administration can count only on the generosity of the international community to help it find the means with which to begin the reconstruction of the country as soon as possible," he said.

It is important, Brahimi said, "to avoid a situation in which a large number of fu
nds are to be available in the future, but very little is actually in hand for the urgent work that needs to be done now."

At the Tokyo conference donors pledged more than $4,500 million for five years.

In his remarks to the council, Secretary General Kofi Annan said that in analyzing the pledges the United Nations saw "critical gaps" and stressed that "the international community must rise to the challenge today and then stay engaged for the long haul."

"The conference focused on long-term needs, but the Afghan Interim Administration needs money today, for example, to pay the salaries of public servants," the secretary general said. "Indeed, help is desperately needed right now."

"Without resources, the administration will quickly lose credibility and will be unable to extend its authority elsewhere in the country, thereby undermining the chances of success of the longer-term peace process," Annan said.

Brahimi said that the contribution made by the UN Development Program to help pay civil servants' salaries in January "went a long way toward enhancing the Interim Administration's credibility."

"But a great deal more money will be required in order to ensure that the Interim Administration can continue to pay salaries in the coming months and provide the bare minimum that people everywhere routinely expect of their governments," he said.

Brahimi asked the Security Council to give "urgent consideration" to expanding the ISAF to the rest of the country.

Security is the main preoccupation of the population, both Brahimi and Annan reported.

While some parts of the country remain calm, "flashpoints still exist throughout the country and tensions flare up periodically instilling fear in the population that peace will not last," Brahimi said.

The visible presence of ISAF troops in Kabul has improved the security situation leading to "increasingly vocal demands by ordinary Afghans, members of the Interim Administration, and even warlords for the expansion of ISAF to the rest of the country. We tend to agree," he said.

Citing the tensions that erupted in Mazar-e-Sharif at the end of January and the still smoldering situation in Gardez, the U.N. envoy said that the clashes "demonstrate that the peace in Afghanistan is still fragile."

In Gardez the conflict has not been settled, he said. "There are indications that the forces of one of the factions are currently deployed outside the town with heavy weapons and are threatening to attack again."

A national police and army will be crucial to bringing security to the country, Brahimi noted. The German government is discussing with the Interim Administration the needs of the police and how different governments can assist. The international community will be called upon to provide training, assistance with salaries, and other needs for the national army as well.

The international community "cannot afford to react slowly" in providing assistance to the police and army, Brahimi said. "Time is really of the essence."

The unstable security situation is affecting the U.N.'s ability to get aid to various parts of the country, Brahimi also said. Three entire provinces -- Pakhtia, Khost, and Paktika -- and numerous districts in southwestern Afghanistan "remain practically off-limits for humanitarian workers." And even in areas considered relatively safe -- such as Herat and Kabul -- the security for relief workers is "fragile."

More than 105,000 people have returned to Afghanistan in January, moving to urban areas they consider safe such as Kabul and Herat instead of their homes in the countryside putting pressure on the meager services of those cities, the special envoy said. Meanwhile, Afghans seeking refuge in Pakistan are still arriving at the Chaman border crossing.

Brahimi said that a major preoccupation of the current U.N. officials and agencies in Afghanistan has been to design the future U.N. mission to Afghanistan.

"We are now close to a consensus on the structure, which is an integrated mission that will operate with a 'light footprint,' keeping the international UN presence to the minimum required, while our Afghan colleagues are given as much of a role as possible," he said.

The secretary general also told the council that during his recent visit to Pakistan and Iran the leaders of both countries assured him that they would not tolerate the presence of Taliban or al-Qaeda personnel in their territories.