WASHINGTON: World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz has accused the development lender’s board of treating him “shabbily and unfairly” as he battles to retain his job, according to a report yesterday.
The New York Times divulged a letter sent by the embattled Wolfowitz to the head of a World Bank probe on Wednesday in which the former Pentagon number two appealed for more time to fend off charges of favouritism and cronyism.
Wolfowitz asked to appear before the board next week in the interest of “fairness to me” and “good governance”, according to the Times, which relayed a description of the letter from people who had seen it.
It said many of the bank’s 24 directors had been “taken aback by the tough tone of the letter,” the contents of which could not be immediately confirmed by AFP.
Wolfowitz, one of the architects of the US-led invasion of Iraq, is fighting for his job following revelations that he ordered a hefty pay package for his girlfriend when she was reassigned from the World Bank to a US government job.
A board committee is also investigating his hiring of former White House aides, also on generous pay deals, to work in his inner circle after he took over the World Bank in June 2005.
World Bank sources said that Wolfowitz would appear before the board next week with Robert Bennett, a prominent Washington lawyer who helped former president Bill Clinton defend himself in a sexual harassment case in 1998.
The New York Times said the board had been “puzzled and put off” by Wolfowitz’s decision to retain a private lawyer, which has raised the stakes in the divisive row over whether he should resign as bank chief.
At a White House meeting Wednesday about efforts to combat malaria, Wolfowitz won fresh support from US President George W Bush.
“I appreciate very much the fact that the World Bank is taking the lead in eradicating poverty in places like Africa, and Paul Wolfowitz, thank you for your leadership of the World Bank,” Bush said to his former colleague.
But European nations continue to pressure Wolfowitz. Members of the European Union’s parliament on Wednesday urged the bloc’s leaders to seek the resignation of Wolfowitz at an EU-US summit in Washington on Monday.
In a resolution, the lawmakers urged the EU’s German presidency to make Wolfowitz understand that “his resignation would be an appropriate measure” given the bank’s importance to fighting corruption.
The Wolfowitz affair could feature in Monday’s summit talks, which are due to be led by Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. – AFP