Hughes to Be Named to Top Diplomatic Post



By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON - Longtime presidential adviser Karen Hughes will be named to a top post at the State Department Monday, government officials said, and improving the U.S. image in the Arab world will be a top priority for her. An Egyptian-born White House aide will be nominated as Hughes' second-in-command.






Hughes, who for years has had a major voice in crafting President Bush (news - web sites)'s domestic message, is a former counselor to the president who left the White House in 2002 to move her family back to Texas.


Hughes, a former Texas television reporter, has continued to advise the president from her home in Austin. She has little experience in foreign affairs but enjoys the confidence of the president and is close to the new secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites).


If confirmed by the Senate, her title would be undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, and she would have the rank of ambassador.


Her deputy would be Dina Powell, currently Bush's personnel director. Powell is a fluent Arabic speaker who emigrated to the United States as a child.


Both women would focus on Bush's plan to spread democracy in the Middle East, an effort that has gained momentum with recent elections in Iraq (news - web sites) and the Palestinian territories. Powell's title would be deputy undersecretary for educational and cultural affairs.


Hughes and Powell would be the latest close Bush aides to follow Rice to the State Department. Rice was Bush's White House national security adviser during his first term. She succeeded Colin Powell (news - web sites) as the top U.S. diplomat in January.