PAUL WOLFOWITZ moved yesterday to quell concerns that he would run the World Bank as a vehicle for US foreign policy, insisting that he would not tinker with its core development aims.

Mr Wolfowitz, at present the Deputy Defence Secretary and the key Iraq war architect, heaped praise on James Wolfensohn, the outgoing World Bank chief, for his efforts to reform the aid process, and promised continuity rather than a new direction.

Under Mr Wolfensohn the World Bank — which provides funding for development projects in the world’s poorest countries — has sought to reward countries that root out corruption and to ensure that less of the aid they receive is lost in maladministration.

Such strictures on making foreign governments more accountable for the money they receive were “critical elements of the economic development agenda”, Mr Wolfowitz said.

A day after his surprise nomination by President Bush, Mr Wolfowitz vowed to focus on economics, not politics, were he confirmed in the job. He said that his recent visit to tsunami-ravaged Indonesia had played a significant role in turning him towards the job.

But aid agencies expressed fears that the appointment of such a hawkish ideologue to head the body which sets development policy for most of the Third World would taint aid with US political goals.

Mr Wolfowitz insisted that his commitment to spreading democracy through the Arab world would not subvert aid policy. “It’s not a secret that I care a lot about the spread of freedom and democracy,” he said. “But as I’ve said over and over again, I think there is a political stream and an economic stream, and they flow together and reinforce each other. If I’m president of the World Bank I know which stream I’m focused on.”

Mr Wolfowitz released a personal statement to World Bank officials, some of whom have expressed alarm at the prospects of “Wolfowitz of Arabia”, as he is sometimes known, becoming their boss. Their worries included concerns that he might divert funds from sub-Saharan Africa to the Islamic world in an effort to ease anti-Americanism there, or that he would tie political strings to the $20 billion of loans the bank extends annually as the largest source of aid to developing countries.

The nomination has been greeted especially coolly in Europe. Clare Short, the former International Development Secretary, accused the US yesterday of trying to wreck international systems and of showing “two fingers to the world”.

Neoconservatives believe aid should be linked more closely to governance reform and the promotion of democracy rather than just alleviating poverty while leaving authoritarian regimes in place.

Mr Wolfowitz has been demonised by many around the world for his role in making the case for ousting Saddam Hussein. He has taken much of the blame for the Pentagon’s failure to plan effectively for the aftermath of the Iraq invasion.

But he is a complex and cerebral man and used his statement to bank officials to try to assuage such concerns. “People who don’t know me may not understand why I am so eager to take on this challenge,” he said. “I believe deeply in the mission of the World Bank. Helping people to lift themselves out of poverty is a noble mission and it is also a matter of enlightened self- interest.”

He described the World Bank as “the repository of the deepest understanding of development issues assembled in one place”, and told employees: “I have the highest regard for you as individuals. I have the deepest respect for all you have accomplished. And together I think we can do great things for the less fortunate of the world and for economic development across the globe”.

He told reporters: “This is not about changing the agenda of the World Bank.”

The nomination follows Mr Bush’s decision to send John Bolton, who was a State Department hawk, to be Ambassador to the UN, and has renewed European criticism that the President shows insufficient concern for overseas views.

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