Bush appoints conservative law chief

Law enforcer: John Ashcroft with George W Bush

US President-elect George W Bush has named conservative John Ashcroft as his attorney-general.

Freedom can flourish only in a culture defined by the rule of law - a rule of law that knows no class, that sees no colour and bows to no creed

John Ashcroft

The appointment of Mr Ashcroft, 58, an ardent opponent of the legal right to abortion and a promoter of church organisations to help the poor and socially deprived, appeared certain to delight conservative Republicans.

But Mr Bush stressed that the abstemious Mr Ashcroft, son and grandson of religious ministers, would be impartial.

"John Ashcroft will perform his duties guided by principle, not by politics," he said.

"He will be faithful to the law, pursuing justice without favour.

"He will enforce the law and he will follow the truth."

Mending fences

Mr Ashcroft - twice governor of Missouri and once state attorney-general - used language which civil rights leaders sometimes see as codewords for resisting positive discrimination.

He said: "Freedom, as President-elect Bush has noted, can flourish only in a culture defined by the rule of law - a rule of law that knows no class, that sees no colour and bows to no creed."

Mr Ashcroft, who lost his seat as senator from Missouri in November's election to Democrat Mel Carnahan's widow, is also a piano player and a member of the Singing Senators, a barbershop quartet of US congressmen who have performed at Republican events.

Mel Carnahan: Missouri senator died in plane crash

Mr Bush's other cabinet choices so far, reflecting his desire to mend fences after a close and bitter presidential election, have been for more socially-moderate Republicans.

The president-elect has named Alcoa aluminum chief Paul O'Neill as treasury secretary; California lawyer Ann Veneman as agriculture secretary; Bush campaign manager Don Evans as commerce secretary; and Cuban immigrant Mel Martinez as housing and urban development secretary.

Mr Bush is meanwhile trying to counter a claim from the White House that he is deliberately talking-down the economy to justify a tax cut.

He dismissed such claims as "foolish talk". There were warning signs, he said, which would require action.