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US to propose Zoellick to head World Bank


WASHINGTON - The United States will propose Robert Zoellick, a former US trade representative and State Department official, as the next head of the World Bank, a senior administration official said Tuesday.

President George W. Bush will announce his backing for Zoellick, who left government last year to join the Wall Street investment firm Goldman Sachs, on Wednesday, the official said.

The Bush administration has been searching for a successor to Paul Wolfowitz, who is resigning as head of the poverty-fighting lender on June 30 after an ethics scandal.

The nomination of Zoellick, who with Wolfowitz was among the senior officials who urged military action to oust Saddam Hussein, could raise eyebrows among European members of the World Bank, who had opposed Wolfowitz as bank chief on the same grounds.

The nomination must be approved by the World Bank's 24-member board of governors.

US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson consulted with other countries in the search and the choice of Zoellick was received favorably, said the senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official declined to name the countries.

"Bob Zoellick's experience and long career in international trade, finance and diplomacy make him uniquely prepared to take on this challenge," said the official.

"He has the trust and respect of many officials around the world and believes deeply in the World Bank's mission of tackling poverty."

"We've received positive reaction, and we think sufficient for him to become the World Bank president," the official said. "We are very confident on that."

Zoellick, 53, left the State Department's number-two post in June 2006 to join Goldman Sachs after making his mark on world international trade and sensitive relations with China.

He became Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's top deputy in February 2005, after serving four years as the US Trade Representative (USTR).

As deputy secretary of state, one of his primary concerns was the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, where Zoellick traveled numerous times to nail down a peace accord between the government of Sudan and the main rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Army.

Before moving to the State Department, Zoellick played a key role in talks that brought China and Taiwan into the World Trade Organization, and helped forge free trade agreements with Singapore, Chile, Australia, and Morocco.

He also was a driving force behind trade negotiations with five nations of Central America and the Dominican Republic, as well as Bahrain, Jordan, Vietnam and numerous other countries, and launched trade talks with the Southern African Customs Union, Panama, the Andean countries, and Thailand.

The senior administration official declined Tuesday to comment on whether non-Americans had been considered for the post.

Despite pressure from Brazil and other developing countries to open the candidacy to any nationality, Bush has insisted the next president would be an American.

By tradition the United States chooses the World Bank president; European countries select the head of its sister institution, the International Monetary Fund.

Wolfowitz, a former deputy defense secretary named by Bush to head the bank in 2005, agreed to step down on May 17 after a six-week scandal over his violation of rules in arranging a generous pay-and-promotion package for his girlfriend, a bank employee. AFP

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