Bush has 'full confidence' in Wolfowitz

The White House said today that President George W

The White House said today that President George W. Bush still had "full confidence" in World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, who faces intense criticism for his role in arranging a high-paying promotion for his girlfriend.

"We still have full confidence, the president has full confidence in President Wolfowitz," White House spokesman Tony Fratto told reporters.

Paul Wolfowitz during a news conference at the conclusion of the IMF spring meetings in Washington at the weekend. Photo: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
Paul Wolfowitz during a news conference at the conclusion of the IMF spring meetings in Washington at the weekend. Photo: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Mr Wolfowitz, a key Iraq war architect who left the Pentagon in 2005 to become president of the World Bank, has been under fire for overseeing a high-paying promotion for Shaha Riza after he took the helm of the poverty-fighting global lender.

Senior Democratic congressmen and other critics have pressed demands for his resignation, saying his actions have undermined the campaign against corruption in the developing world that has been a hallmark of his World Bank tenure.

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SAIC said Riza's subcontract lasted from April 25th to May 31st, 2003. She was paid expenses but no salary during her trip to Iraq, at her request, according to the contractor.

Melissa Koskovich, a spokeswoman for SAIC, said the contractor "had no role in the selection of the personnel who comprised the Iraq Governance Group under this contract."

Defense sources said the Pentagon was reviewing the matter. The World Bank's board is examining Mr Wolfowitz's role in helping to arrange Riza's promotion and the bank's staff association has called for his resignation.

The controversy hung over spring meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund last weekend, attended by top finance and development officials from around the globe.

The bank's member governments said on Sunday they were troubled by the matter and that it was crucial the bank's credibility not be tarnished. Mr Wolfowitz said he intended to stay in his job. Democrats who criticize Mr Wolfowitz for his role at the Pentagon in the run-up to the Iraqi war stepped up calls for him to quit.

Democratic Senator John Kerry, who ran against President George W. Bush for president in 2004, said in a statement that Mr Wolfowitz's problems at the bank were "entirely self-inflicted" and jeopardized its role as a champion of anti-corruption.

Last week, Senator John Edwards, a contender for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, said Mr Wolfowitz's World Bank leadership was characterized by "some of the same failures as his term managing the war in Iraq - cronyism and rhetoric that does not match reality." He added: "He should resign."