Kiwi a rival to Blair at World Bank
Paul Wolfowitz, a former United States deputy defence secretary, resigned from the bank job last week after being found to have breached ethical rules. Mr Wheeler, a former executive at the Treasury in New Zealand, was appointed the World Bank's managing director by Mr Wolfowitz. International reports have pinpointed Mr Wheeler as a strong possibility as his successor. Mr Wolfowitz stepped down after accusations of impropriety in his involvement in a high-salary promotion for his Libyan girlfriend Shaha Ali Riza in the US State Department. Mr Wolfowitz said he was resigning in the bank's "best interests". Based in Washington, the World Bank provides financial aid to developing countries. Mr Wolfowitz was appointed president in 2005 at the insistence of US President George W Bush. In resigning from the bank, he wrote to its board of directors suggesting he leave running of the bank to his two managing directors, one of them being Mr Wheeler. The other managing director...