The stakes over the arch-hardliner John Bolton's confirmation to be American envoy to the United Nations have grown even higher, with a veiled attack on the nominee by Colin Powell, and public criticism of Mr Bolton's conduct from a former US ambassador who worked with him on the North Korea nuclear issue.

It emerged yesterday that General Powell, who was President George Bush's first secretary of state, has been in touch with two wavering Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, telling them in private conversations that Mr Bolton was a tough operator but "very problematic", according to The Washington Post and The New York Times.

General Powell has let it be known through aides that he did not instigate contacts with the two senators - Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island - and merely responded to their inquiries.

His views still carry much weight among Republican moderates, and he has sent two clear signals of how he feels. The first was his failure to sign a letter from former Republican secretaries of state and defence endorsing the nominee; the second was a statement by his former chief-of-staff Lawrence Wilkerson that Mr Bolton would make an "abysmal" ambassador to the UN.

Mr Bolton served at the Powell state department from 2001 to 2005 as the top official handling arms control and proliferation issues. The tensions were often palpable between a suave foreign policy moderate and a blunt-spoken neo-conservative hawk. Now, in effect, they are on opposite sides again, in a confirmation struggle that threatens to turn into a replay of the central policy battle of Mr Bush's first term, over the Iraq war and how intelligence to support that war was manipulated by officials, among them Mr Bolton.

Mr Bolton has already been beset by charges that he bullied subordinates, and sought to manipulate intelligence. In a new setback, Thomas Hubbard, former US ambassador to South Korea, has challenged testimony by Mr Bolton to the committee earlier this month and accused him of rude and undiplomatic behaviour in his handling of delicate negotiations with North Korea to persuade it to give up its nuclear weapons programme.

This week the 18-member panel postponed a vote on whether to send Mr Bolton's nomination to the full Senate. It now plans to hold the vote on 9 May.

© 2005 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd

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