World Bank confirms Wolfowitz as new president

Paul Wolfowitz

WASHINGTON - The World Bank has unanimously confirmed Paul Wolfowitz as its president despite quiet misgivings by some members over the deputy defence secretary's role as the Bush administration's architect of the Iraq war.

The outcome had already largely been decided in the capitals of the bank's major shareholder governments when the 24-member board met in a vote that was conducted by consensus.

Wolfowitz will have a few months of transition before he takes the reins of the bank on June 1, when James Wolfensohn steps down after 10 years at the helm of an organisation that spends billions of dollars a year in projects aimed at reducing poverty in the world's least developed countries.

"It is humbling to be entrusted with the leadership of this critically important international institution," Wolfowitz said in a statement.

He said the next six months would be important for international development policy decisions, before a UN summit in September to measure progress on meeting global targets to reduce poverty.

He also said he understood the urgent need for easing the debts of the bank's poorest borrowers, infrastructure improvements and regional integration if poverty was to be tackled.

The Pentagon's No. 2 civilian official was the only nominee for the World Bank job, which by informal agreement is headed by an American, while the top post of the International Monetary Fund usually goes to a European.

A group of U.S.-based anti-poverty activists from 50 Years is Enough, ActionAid International USA and Mobilization for Global Justice held a small demonstration outside the bank's headquarters in Washington to oppose "the one-horse race."

But Wolfowitz's nomination was assured despite private disquiet among Europeans who opposed the US invasion of Iraq but who are hoping Washington will support their candidates for top jobs in other international agencies like the World Trade Organisation.

Wolfowitz won their backing during a visit on Wednesday to Brussels, where he acknowledged he was a controversial figure but vowed to consult broadly with bank members.

- REUTERS