Washington, May 30, 2007 - US President George W Bush is likely to name former deputy secretary of state Robert Zoellick as the next World Bank head. Bush will announce the decision later today, officials said.

Zoellick will succeed Paul Wolfowitz, who is stepping down on June 30 after findings by a special bank panel that he broke bank rules when he arranged for a hefty compensation package in 2005 for his girlfriend, Shaha Riza, a bank employee.

The White House had yesterday said that the nomination process for the next President of the World Bank was almost through but Press Secretary John Snow did not speculate on any names, as per business-standard.com.

Zoellick must be approved by the World Bank's 24-member board.

Wolfowitz was the number two at the Pentagon and was generally seen as a key architect of the Iraq war, a stance that eventually made him pay the price at the bank as from the start Europeans were upset that Bush would pick someone to run the bank who was so closely associated with the war.

Traditionally the World Bank has been run by an American while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is headed by someone from Europe.