About Taka 555 crore (about US 150 million dollars) worth of assistance for the cyclone affected people has so far been committed by different countries and agencies in response to Prime Minister's appeal.

Terming the response as 'extraordinary and spontaneous' Foreign Secretary Abul Ahsan told a press briefing on

Saturday more commitments

Prime Minister of Pakistan Newaz Sharif. French Minister for Humanitarian Affairs. Bernard Kouchner, and United Nations Disaster Relief Coordinator Hamed Essafl are arriving in Bangladesh today (Sunday).

The Foreign Secretary said the United Nations General Assembly has expressed profound sympathy for the people of Bangladesh. and has a draft resolution urging all to urgently and generously extend all possible help.

He said a little over 100.000 people were killed, about one million houses damaged In the April 29 cyclone according to preliminary assessments. It is difficult to accurately quantify the extent of damage because many