Snow still hasn’t found what he’s looking for

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Treasury Secretary John W. Snow yesterday would not rule out the idea of Irish singer Bono, an activist for debt relief and AIDS, making the short list of candidates to lead the World Bank even though an American is expected to get the job.

“He’s somebody I admire. He does a lot of good in this world of economic development,” Mr. Snow said.

“Most people know him as a rock star. He’s in a way a rock star of the development world, too. He understands the give and take of development. He’s a very pragmatic, effective and idealistic person,” Mr. Snow said.

Other candidates who have surfaced include Carly Fiorina, the recently ousted chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Co., and Christie Whitman, a former head of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Mr. Snow is part of the Bush administration team working on finding a successor to James Wolfensohn, who is stepping down as head of the development bank on June 1.

Asked whether the lead singer for U2 would make the short list of candidates that Mr. Snow is preparing for President Bush, the secretary said: “I am not going to review here all the candidates that are on the list. But I will attest to my admiration for Bono.”

Bono toured Africa with Mr. Snow’s predecessor, Paul H. O’Neill, who focused a lot of attention during his time at the Treasury on poverty and diseases such as AIDS in Africa.

Bono has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for international social justice efforts that include trying to persuade rich nations to relieve the debt of poor nations.

Mrs. Fiorina also has ties to Snow.

“She’s also a friend and somebody I think well of,” Mr. Snow told ABC’s “This Week.” But, he added, “I think we’re going to have to wait to reveal that next president of the World Bank for a little while.”

Other names floated for the World Bank job include John Taylor, the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for international affairs; Peter McPherson, the former head of Michigan State University who served as Mr. Bush’s point man on rebuilding Iraq’s financial system; and Randall Tobias, Mr. Bush’s global AIDS coordinator.

The administration began the search for Mr. Wolfensohn’s successor in early January and said it would talk to other countries that belong to the 184-nation World Bank. The administration wants to name a replacement before Mr. Wolfensohn’s term ends.

The United States is the World Bank’s largest member nation. The bank traditionally has had an American president.

“I fully expect that to be the case, yes, and so do the [Group of Seven] finance ministers and all of the participants in the process,” Mr. Snow said. “I’ve had any number of calls from finance ministers from around the world saying they want it to be an American.”

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