World Bank Board to Decide Wolfowitz's Fate

April 20, 2007
World Bank Board to Decide Wolfowitz's Fate

WASHINGTON, April 20 — The World Bank´s board of directors expressed "great concern" today about the mounting furor over the charges of favoritism now dogging the leadership of Paul D. Wolfowitz. But the board put off until next week the rendering of a judgment that could force Mr. Wolfowitz to resign as president of the bank.

With Mr. Wolfowitz's future growing deeper in doubt, officials at the bank said the governing board was divided over whether to deliver the equivalent of a vote of no confidence next week, or to take some softer action instead.

In an extraordinary chain of events, the 24 directors who govern the day-to-day workings of the bank and who represent different countries or clusters of countries convened Thursday to discuss Mr. Wolfowitz's fate and did not conclude their session until 1:30 a.m. today.

The officials said that the bank directors from Europe and Asia favored a harsh rebuke that would make it untenable for Mr. Wolfowitz to stay on, while directors from the United States, Canada and Japan have resisted that result. Directors from Latin America are said to be leaning toward a strong rebuke, but directors from Africa are known to have more mixed views.

The board issued a statement saying that they had wrestled with "the current situation in the bank, which is of great concern," and would set up a process "to deal with the situation urgently, effectively and in an orderly manner."