US:World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz said he would protect the confidentiality of employee records as the institution's board investigated the promotion of a member of staff he is romantically involved with.
Mr Wolfowitz told the bank's staff in an e-mail yesterday that he would ensure the board had access to the facts of the case "in a manner that also respects the bank's rules concerning the right of every staff member to the confidentiality of his or her records".
The board, made up of representatives of the bank's 185 member countries, on Friday called for an investigation into whether the promotion of Shaha Riza violated the bank's staff rules. Its staff association last week questioned Ms Riza's promotion.
She had been given an external bank assignment to the US state department in September 2005, when her involvement with Mr Wolfowitz was made public.
Ms Riza worked at the bank for eight years and was a senior communications adviser in its Middle East department when she was transferred to the state department and remained on the bank's payroll.
Mr Wolfowitz took up his position in mid-2005 after serving as US deputy defence secretary, where he was a leading architect of the invasion of Iraq.
The bank's staff association said that before Ms Riza's assignment at the state department, she was promoted to a senior position which would normally be "competitive, vetted and approved by the relevant sector board". It also said she was given a pay raise that was more than double the amount allowed under staff rules.
Mr Wolfowitz said in the letter, in which he pledged co-operation with the inquiry, that he had sought the board's advice regarding Ms Riza soon after he arrived at the bank.
He was advised by the board's ethics committee that Ms Riza's presence presented a conflict of interest and she should be transferred to a job outside the bank.
He said he accepted "full responsibility for the actions taken in this case" and said he had always acted to uphold bank rules. - (Reuters)