Hillary says not pursuing World Bank job

Lusaka: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday said she was not in discussions over the top job at the World Bank and that she was not pursuing the post.

Hillary is in Zambia as part of a five-day Africa trip that is being overshadowed by news that she had expressed interest in moving to head the World Bank.

"I have had no discussions with anyone, I have evidenced no interest to anyone and I am not pursuing that position," Hillary told reporters.

According to sources close to Hillary and the Obama administration, she expressed interest in moving to the World Bank when current World Bank President Robert Zoellick's term ends in mid-2012.

Both the White House and State Department on Thursday denied the Reuters report, which cited three sources familiar with the discussions. Told of the official denials, the sources said the story remains accurate.

Revelations about Hillary as a potential Bank nominee are sensitive because they come during a period of significant foreign policy challenges for the Obama administration.

It also infuriates emerging market economies, which are clamoring for greater influence in global institutions and see discussions such as these as proof that the jobs are determined in advance.

One source said the report of Hillary's interest had come at a difficult time for the administration, which had just started to consider the issue of who should succeed Zoellick.

Hillary's name was discussed as part of a strategy still under development, according to a source who had knowledge of the talks.

Zoellick has not revealed his future plans or whether he has an interest in a second term at the bank, which provides billions of dollars in loans and grants to developing countries.

Under normal circumstances, the names of potential candidates for the World Bank would surface only months before the post becomes vacant. But the timing of the discussions is not unusual this year given the sudden opening of the top job at the bank's sister institution, the IMF.

By tradition, the World Bank has always been headed by an American and the IMF by a European.