Paul Wolfowitz, the US nominee to head the World Bank, has recruited Robin Cleveland, a senior White House official involved in postwar Iraq planning, as his staff assistant.

His choice, even for a temporary adviser, has drawn comment in Washington, where Ms Cleveland is seen as a widely experienced policymaker but a somewhat polarising figure. One staff member at the World Bank described her as a "wild-eyed" conservative whose expertise lay in national security, not development.