KABUL -- Afghanistan and the United States are discussing bringing in hundreds of advisers to Kabul ministries to accelerate post-war reconstruction under a new $1 billion U.S. aid pledge, a government official said on Sunday. Foreign Ministry spokesman Omar Samad rejected some suggestions that this could amount to a colonization of the Afghan administration along the lines of Iraq, Reuters said. "We are considering the modalities under which U.S. and other experts could come and work in designated ministries," he said. "But our initial thoughts are that if we can find Afghans living overseas or here who are experts in certain fields we should make it possible for them to come and work. "In case where there is no Afghan expertise, we would consider bringing in non-Afghan experts," he said. Ambassador William Taylor, newly appointed U.S. coordinator for Afghanistan, told U.S. National Public Radio (NPR) on Tuesday that advisers could be sent to help Afghanistan take advantage of aid flows and accelerate rebuilding efforts. "One of the things we are considering is to provide senior-level advisers that can work with the government of Afghanistan in each of the ministries, both at senior level and at the technical level, to help develop the capacities to provide services," he said. Taylor said it was part of a "reinvigorated effort" for Afghanistan by the United States and the international community and announcements would be made in the coming weeks. Samad said numbers had yet to be decided, but they were likely to be in the "low hundreds," with the focus on key ministries involved in post-war reconstruction. NPR quoted Barnett Rubin, a professor and Afghan expert at New York University, as saying he had heard the plan could involve 15 ambassador-level advisers and 250 more at lower level. "They are calling it the Bremerization of Afghanistan," he said, referring to the U.S. civil administration in Iraq. NPR said Rubin had expressed concern that the plan could result in a colonial-style administration that would undermine efforts to build up Afghan institutions, something Samad rejected. "I don't want to compare it to the situation in Iraq," he said. "Afghanistan is a different country and a case by itself, but there is a need for modern-style management and expertise within the civil administration." "It will by no means signify that whoever allocates most funds will take on some kind of colonial stature -- that's not how we see it, we see it as an international effort as a whole." Samad conceded that there were some who saw the appointment of U.S. experts as the quickest solution, but added: "The goal is not to Americanize the rehabilitation and capacity building effort. We see this as an international effort and it has to be led by Afghans first," he said. U.S. officials said last month that the Bush administration was preparing a $1 billion aid package for Afghan reconstruction, to be used for such projects as building schools and roads. The United States attacked Afghanistan in 2001 to overthrow its Taliban rulers, who had provided shelter to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. President Hamid Karzai then took office under U.S. protection, but complaints have mounted among Afghans at the slow pace of reconstruction. President Bush once promised a Marshall Plan for Afghanistan, but the aid effort is dwarfed by the estimated $900 million a month it spends on its military forces in the country.