LONDON, July 23: The Pakistani-born Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, Bishop of Rochester, a strong candidate for the position of Archbishop of Canterbury, has not been chosen to be the next head of the Church of England.

Instead, Archbishop of Wales, Rowan Williams, the prime minister Tony Blair’s choice, was confirmed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury today.

Archbishop Williams is known as an open-minded person, who has also been critical of the war on terrorism in Afghanistan, and condemned the bombing of that country.

Earlier this month, Archbishop Williams, the former professor of Divinity at Oxford University, had signed a letter condemning the proposed American action in Iraq.

Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, a highly respected authority on Christian-Muslim relations and church history, was short-listed for the post, and was the outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury’s favourite, but lacked Labour government’s support.