WASHINGTON - INCOMING secretary of state Hillary Clinton's two deputies were named on Tuesday with the former first lady reportedly planning a more muscular State Department under president Barack Obama.

Both of the deputies - former deputy national security adviser James Steinberg and ex-budget director Jacob Lew - served in the presidency of Mrs Clinton's husband Bill.

'The team that we have assembled is uniquely suited to meet the great global challenges facing us today,' Mr Obama said in a statement.

'They join a strong team of leading experts and accomplished managers and I look forward to working with them in the years ahead,' the president-elect said.

Normally the secretary of state has only one deputy but Mrs Hillary Clinton, according to a New York Times report, wants Lew to handle economic matters as a beefed-up State Department takes a major role in tackling the global crisis.

Mr Steinberg was a key foreign policy adviser to Mr Obama's election campaign and is likely to be the new president's eyes and ears at the State Department.

As with Mrs Clinton herself, both deputy positions are subject to Senate confirmation.

After eight lean years under President George W. Bush, the State Department is expected to get more cash and more influence under Mrs Clinton as Mr Obama accentuates diplomacy and the 'soft power' of US influence abroad.

Mrs Clinton wants also to dispatch high-profile special envoys to global troublespots, the New York Times report said.

Veteran diplomat Dennis Ross is being floated as a possible Middle East envoy, while diplomatic troubleshooter Mr Richard Holbrooke and Mr Martin Indyk, a former United States ambassador to Israel, are also under consideration.

Mr Bill Clinton himself is reportedly being mooted as a special envoy for Kashmir, the perennial flashpoint between nuclear powers India and Pakistan.

Transition officials declined to comment on the Times report. -- AFP