U.S. President George W. Bush said Wednesday he will recommend Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz as president of the World Bank to succeed James Wolfensohn, who will retire in May.

''I think Paul will be a strong president of the World Bank,'' Bush told a press conference at the White House.

Wolfowitz issued a statement, saying, ''I look forward to being an international civil servant with the responsibility for heading the world's leading institution of economic development -- an institution whose aim is reducing poverty and developing opportunities for all the people of the world to achieve their full potential.''

With the United States paying the largest share of contributions, the World Bank traditionally has its president nominated by the U.S. government.

Calling Wolfowitz a ''strong diplomat,'' Bush said he called world leaders to inform them of his decision.

The move comes a week after the announcement to nominate Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton, another neoconservative of the first-term administration, as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Both Wolfowitz and Bolton were expected to leave the Bush administration after the first term. But Bush asked Wolfowitz and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, another hard-liner and one of the key architects of the Iraq war, to remain, and gave Bolton the high-profile U.N. post.

Bush picked Wolfowitz, a longtime advocate of spreading democracy in the Middle East, to head the World Bank, signaling his intention to incorporate his strategy of spreading freedom and democracy into programs by the Washington-based top multilateral development bank to help poor and developing nations.

The Bush administration has clashed with Wolfensohn over the effectiveness of the bank's development aid. He was appointed in 1995 during the administration of President Bill Clinton.

Wolfensohn has said he will retire when his second five-year term ends in May.

''Paul is committed to development. He's a compassionate, decent man who will do a fine job in the World Bank,'' Bush said.

Wolfowitz said that helping people out of poverty ''is not just the material side of life that improves: Peace and freedom are also advanced when more people can enjoy the benefits of prosperity and human dignity.''

Wolfowitz, who took the current job in March 2001, has worked in numerous government positions as well as in academia, including seven years as dean of the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

In the late 1980s, he served as ambassador to Indonesia and assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, under President Ronald Reagan.

Born Dec. 22, 1943, Wolfowitz graduated with a doctorate in political science from the University of Chicago.

Source: Agencies