WB concludes Wolfowitz broke ethics rules

WASHINGTON: The World Bank executive board has concluded that bank president Paul Wolfowitz broke ethics rules in arranging a pay rise for his girlfriend and will try to end his tenure next week, a media report said on Saturday.

Citing unnamed senior bank officials, 'The Washington Post' said board members do not want to vote to fire Wolfowitz since that might provoke a rupture with the United States.

But they are inclined to adopt a resolution saying they have lost confidence in him, hoping that will persuade him to resign, it said.

Wolfowitz has said he granted Shaha Riza a pay raise and promotion on advice from an ethics board at the bank, and his attorney Robert Bennett declined to say what Wolfowitz would do, The Post said.

Wolfowitz was completing a written response to the accusations against him, the paper said. He has been invited to appear before the board on Tuesday, and the no-confidence vote could come soon after.

Bank officials said the resolution will probably assert that Wolfowitz's continued tenure jeopardizes the bank's ability to raise funds for its campaign to eradicate poverty, according to the report.

Board members are betting that a strong expression of dissatisfaction will persuade the US administration to withdraw its support and urge Wolfowitz to step down, The Post said.