Zoellick promises to heal World Bank rifts

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Robert Zoellick, picked by U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday to head the World Bank, said his biggest challenge would be to "calm the waters" following the storm over outgoing president Paul Wolfowitz.

"One of the issues will be to try to calm the waters, but also then try and get a sense from people about how we can build some consensus about the direction of the institution," Zoellick told reporters soon after Bush's announcement.

"One can have the best strategy and ideas in the world and unless one can operationalize it, it's not going to be successful," he added.

If confirmed by the World Bank board of member countries as expected, Zoellick, 53, will succeed Wolfowitz, who agreed to step down on June 30 after a bank panel found he violated rules in authorizing a hefty promotion and pay raise for his companion, Middle East expert Shaha Riza.

Zoellick, who left his job as deputy secretary of state last year to join Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs, immediately reached out in an effort to heal divides that emerged among bank staff and member countries in the battle that led to Wolfowitz's resignation.

"This institution has been through a traumatic period and there is a lot of anxiety, some frustration and anger that has built up," he said, adding: "This is a group of first-class minds, highly trained, highly educated and devoted to the mission and this adds to the complications."

HANDS-ON MANAGER

Zoellick said he had already illustrated as U.S. Trade Representative that he was an able, hands-on manager who held daily meetings with senior managers, implying a different management style from Wolfowitz, who relied on an inner circle of advisors he brought in from the Pentagon and White House.

Zoellick, who described himself as someone with a dry sense of humor that was often overlooked by the press, said he had already expressed a willingness to meet this week with members of the bank's board, who will decide his appointment.

He said he had also spoken with U.S. administration officials, including former President Bill Clinton, ex Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former bank presidents Robert McNamara, James Wolfensohn and Wolfowitz.

While it was too early to say where he would focus his attention, Zoellick said he strongly believed in the mission of the institution to reduce global poverty.

Referring to the bank's role in fighting corruption, which became a contentious issue for Wolfowitz, Zoellick said: "My sense is that it is an important issue for the legitimacy of the institution but also for the effectiveness of its programs."

Zoellick's nomination has already won the support of most European countries, although some developing nations have urged the United States to open the selection process to a global pool of candidates, based on merit not nationality.

Given concerns about the long-standing practice of the United States always naming the head of the World Bank, other candidates could still emerge before a June 15 deadline, although it was unlikely any would present a formidable challenge to Zoellick's nomination.

Brazil and South Africa, which last week called for a more open process, have expressed their support for Zoellick.

CONSENSUS BUILDER

Zoellick has a reputation as being extremely demanding but is also seen as a consensus builder, a valuable skill at a time of divisions in the bank and questions over its role.

"It's not easy to negotiate with him but it's easy to make agreements with him, since he is a professional of the highest caliber and he always keeps his word," Russian Economy Minister German Gref told reporters in Moscow.

Zoellick, who served as a top foreign policy advisor to Bush during the 2000 presidential campaign, has wide-ranging interests and expertise and has studied and commented on events in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

As the Bush administration's first U.S. trade representative, he helped launch the Doha Round of global trade talks and pushed for greater U.S. trade with Africa.

He later traveled to Sudan as deputy to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to broker a deal to end the Darfur conflict.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Zoellick must work quickly to restore confidence in the World Bank.

"I hope Mr. Zoellick will re-establish, or establish, our confidence in the World Bank. It is absolutely crucial," Kouchner told reporters in Germany.

(Additional reporting by Vlasta Demyanenko in Moscow)