By Lesley Wroughton
Washington - The United States nomination of Paul Wolfowitz as World Bank chief drew a cool response from European officials on the bank's board but they had little chance of blocking it, board sources said on Wednesday.
Sources close to the World Bank board said Wolfowitz's name was informally circulated several weeks ago among the 23-member board, which represents the bank's 184 member countries, and the reaction was made clear to US Treasury Secretary John Snow.
"Mr. Snow knows that the reaction from the board was unfavourable," one source said. "Mr. Wolfowitz's nomination today tells us the US couldn't care less what the rest of the world thinks."
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'The enthusiasm in old Europe is not exactly overwhelming' Wolfowitz, the No. 2 man at the Pentagon, is a controversial pick because of his role in designing and promoting the 2003 Iraq invasion, which was bitterly opposed in Europe and elsewhere in the world.
Some World Bank staff reacted with cynicism. Many in the bank had rooted for former US secretary of state Colin Powell.
Wolfowitz has had three stints at the defence department, but also served as assistant secretary of state for East Asia and as ambassador to Indonesia and headed the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University.
The sources said acting US Executive Director Bob Holland told board members at a meeting on Wednesday Wolfowitz was prepared to face them in a formal interview as they decide on his nomination.
"The enthusiasm in old Europe is not exactly overwhelming," German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul said.
Wolfowitz's current boss, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, once dismissed states like France and Germany that resisted the Iraq war as "old Europe," as opposed to the "new Europe" of former communist states that were more sympathetic.
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