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Washington - In an emotional appeal to the World Bank's board to keep his job, Paul Wolfowitz said a loss of confidence in his leadership would be "grossly unfair".
He called for a fair resolution in a dispute over a pay and promotion deal for his companion as the board considered whether he should stay, resign or be fired.
In a last pitch to explain his actions in the agreement he directed for World Bank Middle East expert Shaha Riza, the World Bank President promised to make changes to his management style to regain the trust of bank staff.
"I respectfully submit, to criticise my actions or to find them as a basis for a loss of confidence would be grossly unfair and would be contrary to the evidence we have presented to you," Wolfowitz said in a statement to the board.
"Rather than fix blame for something that wasn't wrong, we should all acknowledge our responsibility as I have acknowledged mine," he said, admitting he was not without fault.
The former Deputy Defence Secretary, whose neo-con background and high-profile role in planning the Iraq war has dogged his two years at the World Bank, said: "In the last month, Shaha Riza and I have been held up to public ridicule. I have been caricatured as a 'boyfriend' who used his position of power to help his 'girlfriend'."
"I implore each of you to be fair in making your decision, because your decision will not only affect my life, it will affect how this institution is viewed in the United States and the world.
"You still have the opportunity to avoid long-term damage by resolving this matter in a fair and equitable way that recognises that we all tried to do the right thing, however imperfectly we went about it."
- REUTERS
