US FORCES DELAY ON WOLFOWITZ

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A special investigative panel of the World Bank yesterday delayed distribution of a report on the conduct of Paul Wolfowitz at the request of the US Treasury amid crisis talks in the Bush administration.

The panel withheld for several hours a report to the board that is expected to reaffirm its draft finding that Mr Wolfowitz violated conflict of interest rules in his handling of a secondment package for Shaha Riza, a bank employee to whom he was romantically linked.

The delay came amid increasing transatlantic diplomacy and internal debate in the Bush administration about the World Bank issue.

President George W. Bush has been consistent in his support for Mr Wolfowitz and is deeply reluctant to let the bank president – whom he nominated for the job – be driven from office.

At the time of going to print, it still appeared likely that Mr Bush would instruct his officials to keep up the fight and intensify an international lobbying campaign to save Mr Wolfowitz's job.




世界银行(World Bank)特别调查小组昨日应美国财政部的请求，推迟提交有关保罗•沃尔福威茨(Paul Wolfowitz)行为的调查报告，目前布什(Bush)政府正进行危机讨论。

该调查小组将向世行理事会提交报告的时间拖延了几个小时，预计该报告将重申报告草案中的结论，即沃尔福威茨在处理其女友、世行雇员沙哈•丽扎(Shaha Riza)借调问题上，违反了利益冲突规则。

在推迟提交报告之时，围绕世行的这一问题，欧美外交活动正日益频繁，同时布什政府内部的争论也逐渐升级。
美国总统乔治•布什(George W. Bush)一贯支持沃尔福威茨，非常不愿意看到这位由他提名的世行行长被迫离职。

在报告即将付印之时，布什似乎仍在指示手下官员继续努力，并加强国际游说攻势，以保住沃尔福威茨的职位。