US President George W. Bush affirmed his support on Friday for
the World Bank president who is trapped in a scandal about
personally dictating the terms of a promotion and pay raise for his
lover.
"The president has full confidence in Paul Wolfowitz," White
House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters at the daily
briefing.
Wolfowitz has "apologized for the matter," Perino said. "We
expect him to remain as World Bank president."
The scandal centers on Wolfowitz's lover, Shaha Riza, a World
Bank staffer.
Recently released documents revealed that on Wolfowitz's
personal direction, Riza was given raises that took her annual pay
package to nearly US$200,000 when she was reassigned from the World
Bank to the US State Department in 2005.
Her pay increase was more than double the amount allowed by
staff rules, according to the World Bank's Staff Association.
At present, Riza is still on the bank's payroll even if she no
longer works there.
On Thursday, calls for Wolfowitz's resignation resounded through
the World Bank's atrium when he addressed employee
representatives.
Wolfowitz apologized, and said he would accept whatever
"remedies" are proposed by the board of the bank.
The probe of Riza's promotion is overshadowing the semi-annual
meetings of the World Bank and its sister institution, the
International Monetary Fund.
Wolfowitz, 63, was an aide to then US Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld in the run-up to the Iraq war.
He was named by Bush to the World Bank post in 2005.
Some analysts predicted that eventually the bank's board will
ask him to resign since his credibility has been deeply
undermined.
The World Bank's president is nominated by the White House for a
five-year term and must be a US citizen.
(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2007)
