Wolfowitz Quits World Bank

Successor Search Starts

William McQuillen and Christopher Swann

(Bloomberg) World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz quit less than halfway through his five-year term amid a furor over securing a pay raise for his companion, and the U.S. moved to maintain its control over the choice of a successor.

The former U.S. deputy defense secretary resigned yesterday after the White House bowed to pressure for his ouster from European governments, which said he had hobbled the world’s largest development agency. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said he would swiftly identify a replacement.

Wolfowitz’s departure comes as the bank gears up to raise $28 billion it says it needs over the next three years to build schools, clinics and roads in the world’s poorest countries. His successor will take over an institution bruised by battles over his choice of advisers, a campaign against corruption and the bank’s role in Iraq.http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20070518/pl_bloomberg/avfsqad63p4m_1

http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=656

2007-05-18