UN accepts Trump nominee to head World Food Programme

GENEVA, Sept 15 (Reuters) - United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has accepted Trump nominee Luke Lindberg from among dozens of candidates to leadthe World Food Programme, a document showed and a U.N. official confirmed on Tuesday.

• Lindberg, a senior U.S. agricultural official, was recommended by Guterres andQu Dongyu, a Chinese national heading the Food and Agriculture Organization, according to a September 11 letter to the head of the WFP board.

• Some 54 candidates applied for the job, according to the letter, which did not name them. Nine were shortlisted.

• U.N. spokespersonFarhan Haq confirmed to Reuters that the organisation had accepted a recommendation for the role from a hiring panel, transmitted that recommendation to the WFP, and was waiting for the board's response.

• AU.N. official said the nomination, first reported by Devex, was expected to be confirmed by the WFP board on Friday.

• The White House and State Department had no immediate comment.

• Nearly 300 million people face crisis levels of hunger this year, the WFP says, with the Iran war exacerbating the situation.

• The World Food Programme, established as a joint project of the U.N. and the FAO, is aimed at providing an emergency response to global food shortages.

• Despite cuts byU.S. President Donald Trump, the U.S. remains the WFP's biggest donor, and it has traditionally been led by an American from the Republican party.

• Some U.S. donations to the Rome-based agency are in-kind or specify that food must be of U.S. origin, which also provides support forU.S. agricultural businesses.

(Reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva, Leah Douglas, David Brunnstrom and Andrea Shalal in Washington; Editing by Jan Harvey)