WASHINGTON - Former Democratic presidential candidate Senator John Kerry called the choice Wednesday of top Pentagon official Paul Wolfowitz to helm the World Bank "mystifying", saying it raised questions about Washington's commitment to mending relations with estranged allies.
"Coming on the heels of the appointment of John Bolton to be ambassador to the United Nations, this is now another mystifying choice by the Bush administration for an important role in the community of nations," Kerry said.
"It makes you wonder whether all the administration's words about mending fences with our allies are just lip service," said Kerry.
Earlier on Wednesday US President George W. Bush nominated Wolfowitz, 61, deputy secretary of defence and one of the country's leading neo-conservative thinkers, saying he would make a "strong president" of the World Bank.
The nomination came a week after the nomination of Bolton, another controversial neo-conservative, to represent the United States at the United Nations, an institution Bolton has repeatedly attacked.
Kerry faulted Wolfowitz, one of the main architects behind the US invasion of Iraq, for "repeated and serious miscalculations about the costs and risks America would face in Iraq."
"I don't believe he is the right person to lead the World Bank," said Kerry, who remained a senator for Massachusetts after losing the presidential race to Bush last November.
Wolfowitz' nomination was meanwhile lauded by Republican Senator Richard Lugar, head of the Senate foreign relations committee, who praised his "integrity, intelligence, creativity and vigor".
Lugar called for the World Bank to set an example for the comprehensive and prompt reform of international banking institutions.
03/16/2005 20:27 GMT