WASHINGTON - The White House said Tuesday that it still supported embattled World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz, who is caught up in a favoritism scandal, but added the lender's best interests had to be preserved.
"Again we support him, but we also know, and he has said that he is willing to be sitting down with members of the World Bank to try to figure out the proper way to serve the best interests of the institution," said White House spokesman Tony Snow.
Snow's comments came as Wolfowitz was due to appear before the World Bank board later Tuesday after a report accused him of breaking the rules by securing a generous pay deal for his girlfriend, fellow bank employee, Shaha Riza.
Wolfowitz was expected to fight hard for his job before the 24-member executive board, which will discuss and eventually decide his fate.
But a month of scandal surrounding Wolfowitz has divided the bank's 185 member states, with the United States standing by Wolfowitz and European governments and others pushing for his exit.
US President George W. Bush has continue to support Wolfowitz, 63, a former deputy defense secretary and an architect of the Iraq war even though bank executives have warned of a crisis of leadership at the international lender.
"There are two tracks going on right now. Number one we've made clear that we support Paul Wolfowitz," said Snow.
"And the separate track is what is gonna be best for the institution."
Snow said Wolfowitz agreed "that certainly a lot of mistakes were made in the personnel process, but it's not a firing offense."
But he stressed the White House was not trying to send a mixed message by voicing support for Wolfowitz while at the same time mentioning the World Bank's interests.
"We're not trying to send a wink, wink, nudge, nudge signal," he said.
05/15/2007 14:33 GMT