KABUL - Afghans cheered promises from the international community on Tuesday to finance the rebuilding of their country but said donors should keep a close eye on how the money is spent.

Interviewed in the shops and streets of Kabul, most said the more than US$4,5 billion pledged should be used to breathe life into an economy wrecked by 23 years of war, as well as to restore the school system and assure law and order.

"It should be spent first on rebuilding the country, which has been completely destroyed," student Habibullah Haidari said on a busy street in central Kabul.

"That way the poor innocent people who suffered in the war can get out of their misery."

"This Tokyo meeting has been very good for Afghanistan," said Abdul Wahab Shamsi, a shopkeeper in Shar-i-Nao district.

A two-day donor conference in Tokyo pledged on Tuesday to provide the emergency aid for Afghanistan, whose month-old interim administration has been so poor it could not pay salaries or even heat some ministries.

While residents praised Kabul's interim administration for getting the pledges, they felt the funds should be distributed by the United Nations to make sure they were properly used.

"If the UN doesn't do this, the money will not be used in the best interests of the Afghan people," Mohammad Wali, another Shar-i-Nao shopkeeper, argued.

The respondents all denied they meant this as a slight against interim Prime Minister Hamid Karzai, a Pashtun tribal chief hardly known here before he was selected by a UN-sponsored conference last month.

But more than two decades of mismanagement by communist, Muslim rebels and fundamentalist Taliban governments have made Kabulis very wary of any government in power.

"We hope government officials won't use this money just for themselves," said traffic policeman Mohammad Sharif.

"The money should be distributed by the reliable and trustworthy people of the United Nations," said Hayatullah, a carpet seller hawking his wares at Zarnigar Park in central Kabul.

"The UN knows what to do."

In Tokyo, aid officials expressed concern that the money might be wasted or funnelled by corrupt officials to rival warlords still feuding in the lawless country.

"There is a very strong recognition that funding is going to stop unless it goes to the sorts of programmes we are trying to reach," World Bank President James Wolfensohn said.

Karzai, clearly aware of donor concerns, vowed in Tokyo to be extremely tough on graft in the reconstruction about to start.

"We will be a Samurai against corruption," he promised.

Living in one of the world's poorest countries, few people knew whether US$4,5 billion was enough to tackle Afghanistan's huge economic problems, but several had their own opinions.

"I think we need US$40 to US$50 billion," shopper Abdul Hafiz said.

"This US$4,5 billion will only pay for half of what we need," said carpet seller Ghulam Haider.

Even if all the money is spent properly, setting priorities could present headaches as well.

"It should first be spend on building up a national army, then on rebuilding Kabul and then on reconstruction around the country," said student Haidari.

"It better not all be spent in Kabul," said Ghulam Haider, who recently came to Kabul from the northern province of Faryab to buy and sell carpets for a profits of little more than one or two dollars per sale.

"Kabul is destroyed, but so is the north," he said.

Shopkeeper Shamsi had other ideas: "It should first be used for education, because without education, there can be no progress."

"I hope civil service salaries are paid," said Sayed Shafiqullah as he shopped in Kabul's central bazaar. - Nampa-Reuters