The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, yesterday said he had appointed Bill Clinton as his special emissary to Haiti with the special task of drumming up investment and other economic support for the perennially impoverished Caribbean nation.

The former US President traveled to Haiti with Mr Ban in March to help highlight the woes of what remains the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Its plight has been worsened by a series of tropical storms last year that ravaged its already puny infrastructure and left 800 people dead. The visit was followed by a donors' conference in the US at which Mr Clinton helped raise pledges of $324 million.