WOLFOWITZ TOP AIDE IN FRESH CONTROVERSY

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Paul Wolfowitz's closest aide was involved in crafting an apparently misleading public statement on the Shaha Riza secondment for dissemination by World Bank spokespeople on an anonymous basis, the Financial Times has found.

The disclosure regarding Robin Cleveland came as the panel investigating Mr Wolfowitz's role in awarding pay and promotion benefits to Ms Riza, his girlfriend, sent a copy of its findings to the bank president, and a second top aide, Kevin Kellems, resigned from the bank. The bank's board meets today to discuss the panel's report.

Mr Kellems told the FT: “In the current environment surrounding the leadership of the World Bank group it is very difficult to be effective in helping to advance the mission of the institution.”

Mr Kellems paid tribute to bank staff in his resignation statement: “I have tremendous respect and admiration for the bank staff and management.”

Ms Cleveland and Mr Kellems joined the bank with Mr Wolfowitz from the Bush administration and have been at the heart of his presidency, though in recent months they clashed over strategy.

Ms Cleveland met Marwan Muasher, the newly arrived director for external relations, on April 4 to discuss how to respond to leaks about the terms and conditions awarded to Ms Riza.

They agreed on a statement that was to be briefed on an anonymous or “background” basis by senior bank officials. This included the apparently misleading claim that “after consultation with the then general counsel, the ethics committee of the board approved an external assignment agreement which was reached with the staff member”.

Mr Muasher confirmed the agreed text with Ms Cleveland in an e-mail, a copy of which has been seen by the FT, and its authenticity has been attested to by two bank officials. The statement was then briefed to the FT and other media organisations by senior bank officials.


英国《金融时报》获悉，在世界银行(World Bank)发言人就借调沙哈•丽扎(Shaha Riza)一事发表匿名声明前，世行行长保罗•沃尔福威茨(Paul Wolfowitz)的亲信副手罗宾•克利夫兰(Robin Cleveland)参与炮制了这份显然具有误导性的公开声明。

一个调查小组负责调查在世行向沃尔福威茨的女友丽扎提供加薪和升迁待遇过程中，沃尔福威茨扮演了何种角色。在送达世行行长的一份调查报告副本中，该小组揭发了克利夫兰，同时，沃尔福威茨的另一位高级副手凯文•凯勒姆斯(Kevin Kellems)也辞去了在世行的职务。世行理事会今天将开会讨论这份调查报告。

凯勒姆斯对英国《金融时报》表示：“在目前世行领导层所处的环境中，想要有效地推进该机构的使命非常困难。”

凯勒姆斯在其辞职声明中赞扬了世行员工：“我对世行员工和管理层有着崇高的敬意和赞赏。”

在跟随沃尔福威茨加入世行之前，克利夫兰和凯勒姆斯都曾在布什政府任职。在沃尔福威茨的任期内，他们一直都是其决策层的核心人物，不过近几个月来他们在战略问题上产生了分歧。

今年4月4日，克利夫兰与世行新任命的负责对外关系的副行长马尔旺•马沙尔(Marwan Muasher)进行了会晤，讨论如何回应有关里扎所获待遇被曝光一事。

他们同意发表一份声明，由世行高级官员匿名或以“不引人注目的”方式发布。这一声明中包括了显然具有误导意味的语句：“在咨询了当时的总法律顾问后，世行理事会下属的道德委员会批准了一份与员工达成的外派协议。”

马沙尔在一封电子邮件中确认了与克利夫兰敲定的声明内容。英国《金融时报》获得了这封邮件的副本，其真实性也得到了两位世行官员的证实。随后，世行高级官员向英国《金融时报》和其它媒体机构通报了声明的内容。