President George W. Bush has picked former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik as his homeland security secretary (Agencies)

President Bush has picked as his homeland security secretary former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik, who helped the city respond to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and trained Iraqi police, administration officials said.

The officials said on Thursday that Bush chose Kerik to replace Tom Ridge, who announced his resignation on Tuesday, to lead U.S. efforts to protect the country from Sept. 11-type attacks. An announcement could come as early as Friday.

As Bush continued a broad overhaul of his second-term Cabinet, there were indications that he was close to nominating a replacement for Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, who has announced his resignation.

In addition, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson appeared close to announcing his anticipated resignation.

Kerik, 49, rushed to the site of the World Trade Center towers moments after the Sept. 11 attack and helped then-New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani during the Sept. 11 crisis, to coordinate rescue efforts, restore order and develop a plan for securing the city.

New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer issued a statement of support for Kerik, whose position must be confirmed by the Senate.

"Coming from New York, Bernie Kerik knows the great needs and challenges this country faces in homeland security. He has a strong law enforcement background and I believe will do an excellent job in fighting for the resources and focus that homeland security needs and deserves in our post-9/11 world," Schumer said.

Kerik has been a strong Bush supporter, and Bush's re-election campaign turned to him to react to charges about homeland security thrown at the president by his Democratic opponent, Sen. John Kerry.

"Kerik spent a lot of time on the campaign trail with Bush and was a real political asset," said Scott Reed, a Republican strategist.

Kerik was Iraq's interim minister of the interior and served as senior policy adviser for then-U.S. envoy Paul Bremer. Later he joined the ex-mayor's consulting firm, Giuliani Partners, and spent three months in Baghdad in 2003 helping train Iraqi police.

An Army veteran, former undercover narcotics cop and black belt in tae kwon do, Kerik published in 2001 a memoir, "The Lost Son: A Life in Pursuit of Justice," in which he described how he came from a broken home in Newark, New Jersey.

In the book, he said his parents divorced when he was 3 and his mother, an alcoholic and prostitute, was murdered when he was 4.

(Agencies)

overhaul : make adjustments to（調整）

undercover: conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods（秘密從事的，秘密的）

narcotic: a drug that produces numbness or stupor; often taken for pleasure or to reduce pain; extensive use can lead to addiction（麻醉藥）