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WASHINGTON - Development ministers from around the globe will today discuss World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz's leadership, which has been called into question over his handling of a promotion for his girlfriend, a bank employee.
Sources told Reuters the ministers will discuss the issue at a luncheon, as they take a break from a meeting of the joint IMF-World Bank Development Committee.
Wolfowitz is under fire for his handling of the promotion of girlfriend Shaha Riza, which staff and anti-poverty activists say has left the moral authority of the institution in tatters.
The former No. 2 at the Pentagon has apologized, saying he was advised by a World Bank ethics panel to assign Riza to a job outside the bank to avoid a conflict of interest.
While his backers in the White House have come to his defence, large shareholders like Britain, Germany and France have questioned whether he still has the credibility to lead the bank, which spends about US$25 billion ($34.7 billion) a year on projects to fight poverty in developing countries.
African ministers have expressed confidence in Wolfowitz, saying he has helped to focus attention on their needs.
Many World Bank member countries have cautioned against judging Wolfowitz until a closer examination by the bank's board wraps up. The board has said it will move quickly.
Still, the scandal has fired up lingering antagonism over Wolfowitz's appointment to the bank in mid-2005 by the US administration and bitterness over his role in the US invasion of Iraq while he was deputy defence secretary.
In notes of a speech prepared for delivery to the development committee on Sunday, Wolfowitz appealed to rich nations to deliver on aid promises and to keep the bank's own coffers stocked so it can keep lending to needy countries.
"We stand half way to the 2010 goal post for doubling aid to Africa compared with 2004," Wolfowitz said, as he outlined priority areas where the bank should focus its attention.
But his appeal was clouded by questions -- and concerns -- by the bank's main donor countries, who are beginning year-long talks about replenishing the World Bank's main lending fund.
Some insiders worry there is a danger some donors could withhold funding to the bank's International Development Association, or IDA, if the scandal drains Wolfowitz's credibility as World Bank president.
- REUTERS
