WASHINGTON - DEMOCRATIC officials say President-elect Barack Obama will nominate Sen Hillary Rodham Clinton to be his secretary of state on Monday.

They requested anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly for the transition team.

To clear the way for his wife's nomination, former President Bill Clinton has agreed to disclose the names of every contributor to his foundation.

He'll also refuse contributions from foreign governments to the Clinton Global Initiative, his annual charitable conference, and will cease holding CGI meetings overseas.

Earlier reports said a frenzy of speculation has surrounded his former party rival's selection as secretary of state as Mr Obama assembles a 'team of rivals' that looks set also to retain Mr Robert Gates as secretary of defence.

Transition sources are not naming any names but hint at a progressive rollout of cabinet officers, starting as early as Monday with another Obama news conference, after last week's announcement of the core economic lineup.

'Previously the national security cluster came first but there's been a minor concession to the economic needs and priorities of the moment,' Brookings Institution analyst and veteran White House adviser Stephen Hess said.

However, the security challenge facing the next president has been underlined by the carnage in India after gunmen massacred up to 155 people, including at least five Americans, in Mumbai.

'These terrorists who targeted innocent civilians will not defeat India's great democracy, nor shake the will of a global coalition to defeat them,' Mr Obama said in a statement on Friday.

'The United States must stand with India and all nations and people who are committed to destroying terrorist networks, and defeating their hate-filled ideology.'

Nine of the gunmen were confirmed dead and one captured. Indian intelligence sources said the detained militant had confessed to coming from Pakistan - where Mr Obama has vowed a stepped-up offensive on Islamic extremists.

On Tuesday, the president-elect is scheduled to address a meeting of US governors in Philadelphia to hear first-hand about the financial crisis plaguing state authorities, as the global credit crunch bites home.

It will be only his second post-election trip outside of Chicago, where Mr Obama has been crafting an ambitious agenda of economic revival, following White House talks with President George W. Bush on Nov 11.

Questions over former president Bill Clinton's myriad financial and political dealings have reportedly been resolved to clear the way for his wife Hillary's appointment as the face of US diplomacy.

Meanwhile the retention of Mr Gates is a 'done deal', according to ABC News, meaning the current Pentagon chief will pivot from orchestrating the war in Iraq to overseeing its winding down under an Obama administration.

Keeping Mr Gates would undermine Mr Obama's mantra of change as he bids to turn a page on the unpopular Bush policies.

But it would make good on the president-elect's pledge to appoint at least one Republican to his cabinet and drain the rancour from Washington's partisan swamp.

However, Mr Gates may only be a stop-gap. Several reports said he would step down after a year, possibly to make way for former navy secretary and Obama military adviser Richard Danzig.

Former Nato commander General James Jones is said meanwhile to be in line to become national security adviser.

Mr Jones is respected on Capitol Hill and across the political aisle, and may be particularly sought by Mr Obama for his expertise on the Afghan war, which the president-elect has vowed to make a top priority.

Other appointments mooted in the press include retired Admiral Dennis Blair as director of national intelligence and Susan Rice, a senior foreign policy adviser to Mr Obama, as US ambassador to the United Nations.

Politico.com said former deputy national security adviser James Steinberg would be named Clinton's deputy secretary of state, a possible sign that Mr Obama wants to keep a close ally standing watch over his former rival.

The president-elect is not interested in working with 'potted plants,' according to incoming White House adviser David Axelrod.

'The one thing that I've learned over six years with Barack Obama is that he invites strong personalities around him,' Mr Obama's campaign strategist told Fox News last week.

But MrAxelrod added: 'There's one person who's going to set policy in this administration, and that's the president of the United States. That's true on the economy. It's true in foreign policy.' -- AFP

Read also:
Clinton repackaged?