Washington: Bernard B Kerik, who was the New York police commissioner during the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre, has been selected by US President George W Bush to take over the Department of Homeland Security from Tom Ridge, who has resigned from the post, White House officials said.

Describing 49-year-old Kerik as a proven crisis manager, the officials said he can straighten out the lines of authority in the infant department, created after the 9/11 attacks, and work to prevent a catastrophic attack or cope with its aftermath.

He will succeed Ridge, the first head of the Department who resigned on Tuesday (Nov 30, 2004) citing personal reasons.

59-year-old Ridge, who hogged the limelight with his regular terror alerts and prepared the country for possible strikes in the aftermath of 9/11 attacks, had said that he would continue in his job till February 1, unless his successor was confirmed by the Senate earlier.

Kerik, who became the New York police commissioner in August 2000, helped to oversee the city's response to the September 11 attacks. He quit in December 2001 with the departure of mayor Rudolph Giuliani.