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Hillary nomination “on track”

Hillary Clinton

WASHINGTON: Barack Obama is “on track” to nominate Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State after next week’s Thanksgiving holiday, said an aide to the president-elect’s transition team on Friday.

The high-profile bid to bring Mr. Obama’s top Democratic primary rival into his Cabinet as his senior foreign policy aide moved forward after financial disclosure issues were worked out with the former President, Bill Clinton.

There will be no formal announcement before the holiday break which starts next Thursday, said the aide on condition of anonymity, adding that the full make-up of Mr. Obama’s national security line-up was still being worked out.

The source said New York Senator Clinton and Mr. Obama were having substantive discussions about her future role.

Latest speculation about the President-elect’s emerging Cabinet on Friday surrounded former four star General and the former head of NATO, James Jones, after ABC News said he was a top candidate to become National Security Adviser.

Mr. Clinton reportedly offered to submit names of donors to his global charity to an ethical review, following concerns his high profile role could prove a conflict of interest if his wife is Secretary of State. Mr. Obama held a late-night meeting with the former First Lady in Chicago last week, which set off the speculation.

Mr. Clinton is reported to have made several concessions to help move his wife’s vetting process along. He also agreed to clear all his future speeches and charitable activities with administration officials, media reports said citing Democratic sources.

Mr. Obama’s staff has gone down the path of thoroughly vetting her and her husband with the understanding that, if he should make an official job offer, she would accept it, the Washington Post cited the aides as saying.

Another candidate for the post, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, emerged from his meeting with Mr. Obama last Friday under the impression that the job had not been filled, it said. The 2004 Democratic presidential candidate Senator John F. Kerry is also said to be on Mr. Obama’s shortlist for the position.

Two Obama transition officials cited by CNN didn’t say how fast financial information is being turned over, but they did shoot down a report suggesting that transition officials are annoyed by slow cooperation from the Clintons. — Agencies

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