The response to the U.N. appeal for rescue and relief operation in flood- affected areas of Pakistan rose dramatically to over 800 million U.S. dollars by Friday and more pledges were expected to come in, a local media DAWN reported on Sunday. The report quoted Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi as saying that over the last two days of the U.N. General Assembly's special session on Pakistan the funding in response to a U.N. appeal for 460 million U.S. dollars doubled. The foreign minister, who had come to New York to attend the special United Nations General Assembly session on Pakistan's floods, noted that the 'tremendous response' to the appeal was led by the United States, which had doubled its contribution. The special session was called by the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Aug. 19 to create awareness among member states about the enormity of the disaster. Ban was profoundly moved by the unfolding tragedy in Pakistan during his visit last week and called for a special U.N. session to raise funds. According to figures released by the United Nations Financial Tracking System, 490 million U.S. dollar have been committed while another 325 million U.S. dollars have been pledged by governments around the world, leading multinationals and charities. These figures include the contributions and pledges made to the United Nations appeal, the Pakistan government and other relief agencies. Over half of the donations came just from three donors, namely European Union (180 million U.S. dollars), the U.S. (150 million U.S. dollars) and UK (100 million U.S. dollars). The three donors are stakeholders in the war against terror and hence realize the importance of helping Pakistan, said the report. As the donations picked up, the U.N. appeal, according to the latest figures, stood 57 percent funded with 263 million U.S. dollars received. In New York, Mr Qureshi told reporters that another special session of the U.N. General Assembly would be held on Sept. 19 in answer to a call by the U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. The foreign minister said a special meeting of Friends of Democratic Pakistan would be held in Belgium on October 15 to raise funds for flood victims. He also called on Pakistani expatriates to donate money and material to the charities. 