WASHINGTON, Jan 7: President George Bush announced on Friday he had chosen US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick as deputy to secretary of state-designate Condoleezza Rice.

Mr Zoellick is considered a tough foreign-policy pragmatist and as Trade Representative, which is the same as a trade minister in other governments, he is already respected in international circles as a skilful negotiator.

The move reportedly prompted the resignation of a senior State Department official, John Bolton, who was already named in the media as a possible successor to Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage. Mr Armitage, a loyalist and close friend of Secretary of State Colin Powell, announced his resignation a month ago, soon after the Bush administration declared that

Mr Powell is not going to continue for a second term. In America, the secretary is the same as a minister in other governments while the deputy secretary is equivalent to a federal secretary.

The choice of Mr Zoellick, a longtime associate of the former secretary of state James Baker, is widely viewed as a victory for the realist foreign-policy wing of the Republican Party over neo conservatives, who dominated policymaking during President George Bush's first term. The neo-conservatives were backing Mr. Bolton, the State Department's most prominent hardliner.

By tapping Mr Zoellick, who helped negotiate German reunification and the North American Free Trade Agreement and is known and respected by key US allies, Dr Rice is seen as emphasising diplomacy over ideology. Dr Rice's Senate confirmation hearing is scheduled for January 18.

Although she is expected to be confirmed without incident, the selection of Mr Zoellick as her deputy would make for a smoother confirmation hearing than if she selected the controversial Mr Bolton.

Mr Zoellick, 51, is a Harvard-trained lawyer who held key jobs in the White House and State and Treasury departments before becoming Trade Representative in 2001. Dr Rice worked closely with him when he was deputy White House chief of staff under the first President Bush.

As Dr Rice's deputy, Mr Zoellick would be charged with troubleshooting, managing the vast State Department bureaucracy, and making sure the President's policies are carried out by his far-flung diplomats.