US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday said she was “not pursuing” the top job at the World Bank after a media report that she was seeking to become the institution’s next head.
“I’m not pursuing that position,” Clinton said when asked about a report by the Reuters news agency that she was considering applying for the job after completing her term as top US diplomat next year.
Senior officials in President Barack Obama’s administration have adamantly denied the report, with one close adviser to Clinton calling it “100 percent untrue”.
Clinton 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,” Clinton told reporters.
According to sources close to Clinton 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.