World Bank says Wolfowitz broke ethics rules

World Bank directors have ruled that President Paul Wolfowitz, 63, violated ethics rules in arranging a pay raise for his companion, communications officer Shaha Riza, 52, but stopped short of saying he had acted in bad faith, according to Bloomberg News. The panel gave Wolfowitz until tomorrow to respond.
The World Bank’s ethics committee also was faulted by the directors, for giving Wolfowitz insufficient guidance on how to avoid a conflict of interest, according to a person who read the report. The directors’ findings next will be considered by the full, 24-member board, according to two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Wolfowitz’s senior strategist, Kevin Kellems, yesterday resigned under fire, Bloomberg said, and speculation was rampant that his former boss would be next. “Right now, even if the board were to clear him, there is so much rancor at the World Bank that it is literally impossible for him to be an effective leader,” George Ayittey, an economist at American University in Washington and a former World Bank consultant, told Bloomberg. “What he’s probably angling for is an honorable way out.”
But Wolfowitz’s lawyer, Robert Bennett, said last night that “there should be no rush to judgment.” And, according to White House spokesman Tony Fratto, “The president continues to support Paul Wolfowitz and believes that he should continue to lead the World Bank.” The World Bank leader says he was following ethics committee orders when he arranged a 36-percent pay raise for Riza, though at least one committee member has contested his account.