President George W. Bush nominated as his new attorney general on Wednesday the top White House lawyer, Alberto Gonzales, a son of migrant workers who rose to become a confidant of Bush and helped shape legal opinions about prisoner treatment in the war on terror. If confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate, Gonzales, 49, would be the first Hispanic-American to become the country's top law-enforcement official. He would replace Attorney General John Ashcroft, whose resignation was announced on Tuesday night and was the first of several expected changes in the Bush Cabinet in his second term. Gonzales is expected to face stiff questioning at his congressional confirmation hearings on allegations that Bush administration legal opinions influenced the abuse of prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq. "His sharp intellect and sound judgment have helped shaped our policies in the war on terror, policies designed to protect the security of all Americans while protecting the rights of all Americans," Bush said in announcing Gonzales' nomination during a ceremony in the White House Roosevelt Room. --More 0051 Local Time 2151 GMT
