The fate of scandal-hit World Bank president hung in the air after a crisis meeting of bank directors, as pressure on the former Pentagon number two mounted in Europe.
WASHINGTON: The fate of scandal-hit World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz hung in the air on Friday after a crisis meeting of bank directors, as pressure on the former Pentagon number two mounted in Europe.
In a terse statement that did not address whether he might resign, Wolfowitz said he "looks forward to implementing the recommendations of the board," but did not elaborate.
The embattled chief said he "welcomes the decision of the board to move forward and resolve this very important issue".
The board of 24 executive directors met late into the night to discuss revelations that Wolfowitz ordered an extraordinary salary worth nearly 200,000 dollars for his bank employee girlfriend, Shaha Riza, in 2005.
Echoing a statement from World Bank ministers Sunday, the directors expressed "great concern" over the affair, which has caused a rebellion among the World Bank's 10,000 staff.
"The executive directors agreed on a process to deal with the situation urgently, effectively and in an orderly manner," they said.
But they deferred any immediate action, calling for further investigation into "conflicts of interest and possible violations of staff rules" concerning Riza's pay package when she was reassigned from the bank to the US government.
The bank's staff association and European governments, long suspicious of Wolfowitz, have faced off against supporters including the United States, Japan and some African countries.
Some staff at the bank's Washington headquarters are now wearing blue ribbons to symbolize their desire for Wolfowitz to go.
The United States is by far the bank's biggest shareholder and has its own seat on the board, along with Japan, Germany, Britain and France.
The French foreign ministry said Friday the World Bank should be "beyond reproach from an ethical point of view".
"There is already coordination between European countries and we hope that it continues," ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said in Paris.
Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the 13-nation eurozone's council of finance ministers, said of the Wolfowitz affair: "All light and clarity must be shed. Then I would like all (World Bank directors) to draw the necessary consequences," he said after a euro group meeting in Berlin.
The White House Thursday reiterated its "confidence" in the embattled Wolfowitz, who as deputy US defense secretary was one of the leading lights behind the war in Iraq.
But spokeswoman Dana Perino added that President George W. Bush wants "to let the board do its work".
The Times newspaper in London reported Friday that the Bush administration "was drawing up a list of candidates to succeed" Wolfowitz. The list is reportedly headed by former Afghan finance minister Ashraf Ghani.
The Economist weekly joined a chorus of commentaries worldwide calling for Wolfowitz's head to roll, attacking his "crass favoritism".
The controversy has sparked charges of hypocrisy against Wolfowitz as he steers a campaign against corruption in the global development lender's 24-billion-dollar annual lending.
The board meeting came after a stormy session of senior staffers Wednesday in which one of Wolfowitz's two top deputies -- New Zealand managing director Graeme Wheeler -- told him directly to quit to salvage the bank's credibility.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon said that an inquiry two years ago found that Wolfowitz did not misuse his office in sending Riza on a fact-finding mission to Baghdad for a US military contractor just after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. But World Bank staff say the trip was a clear violation of rules.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}