From: Jurriaan Bendien (adsl675281@TISCALI.NL)
Date: Fri Apr 13 2007 - 11:30:44 EDT
Wolfowitz Apologizes For 'Mistake' At World Bank, Boos Over Pay for Girlfriend By Karen DeYoung and Al Kamen Washington Post Staff Writers Friday, April 13, 2007; Page A01 World Bank President Paul D. Wolfowitz publicly apologized yesterday for the "mistake" of personally orchestrating a high-paying job and guaranteed promotions for a bank employee with whom he is romantically involved, as new details of his role in the arrangement emerged and staff members angrily demanded his resignation. Wolfowitz attempted to address about 200 staffers gathered in the bank's central atrium but left after some began hissing, booing, and chanting "Resign. . . . Resign." He had approached the gathering after holding a news conference in which he said, "I made a mistake for which I am sorry." (...) Cave asked that the board release all documents related to the issue, the same step that Wolfowitz requested last night. Among the documents, Cave said, is a 2005 memo from Wolfowitz to the vice president for human resources detailing the terms of Riza's outside assignment, including promotion upon her return to the bank from an upper-middle position to a level equal to bank vice president, "depending on the length of her external service." The agreement said the promotion would be subject to a performance review by a "panel whose membership would be mutually agreed" by human resources officials and Riza. Staff writers Krissah Williams and Steven Mufson contributed to this report. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/12/AR2007041201188.html?hpid=topnews http://www.whistleblower.org/doc/2007/BankStaffComments1.pdf http://www.whistleblower.org/doc/2007/BankStaffComments2.pdf GAP has verified all of the following information from multiple high-level sources inside the Bank: The Board report on the Wolfowitz-Riza scandal stating that, in being detailed from the Bank to the U.S. State Department, Riza was promoted to a "GH" level position "consistent with the practice of the Bank," rests on incorrect information. The Board's conclusion (paragraph 2b) was based on a belief that Riza qualified for a promotion and had been shortlisted in a competition for the position of Middle East North Africa Communications Adviser. In fact, Riza was turned down twice for promotion to level GH by the Communications Network Sector Board (Comnet), the appropriate authorizing body. Comnet found that Riza lacked the professional qualifications necessary for a GH level position as a Communications Adviser. She was therefore not shortlisted for the position. Nonetheless, on September 19, 2005, Riza was promoted non-competitively to Principal Communications Officer as part of her External Assignment - a decision supported by the President of the Bank. When transferred, she had no professional qualification for a GH Level position in the Communications area, which was why Comnet rejected her application for promotion twice. The title she was given as GH Level, Principal Communications Officer, is held by only one person in Comnet: Shaha Riza. http://www.whistleblower.org/template/page.cfm?page_id=181
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Mon Apr 30 2007 - 00:00:16 EDT