former u.s. president george h.w. bush was appointed thursday to lead u.n. efforts in assisting earthquake victims in pakistan, deutsche presse agentur (dpa) reported. the appointment was made by secretary-general kofi annan, who asked bush to represent the u.n. in seeking continued international assistance to victims of the october 8 himalayan quake that killed more than 73,000 people. the quake devastated large areas in northern pakistan, leaving hundreds of thousands of people in need of emergency assistance. 'i am delighted that president bush has accepted to play this role,' annan said. 'i know the pakistani authorities are too. we know that he is going to bring extraordinary leadership and attention to this terrible tragedy.' bush said he looks forward to work as a special u.n. envoy in pakistan. 'this is a disaster of enormous proportions and the recovery is going to be a long and difficult task,' bush said in a statement. the u.n. has appealed for 550 million dollars to assist the quake survivors and nearly 226 million dollars have been pledged by donors. a separate appeal by the pakistani government has yielded pledges totaling 6 billion dollars for recovery and reconstruction. early this year, annan asked former president bill clinton to lead u.n. efforts to assist the 12 southeast asian nations struck by the tsunami. the two former u.s. presidents also worked together to raise funds in the united states to help tsunami victims. they were appointed by president george w. bush. --spa 15:00 local time 12:00 gmt nnnn
