Wolfowitz pleads to keep his job

Washington: In an emotional appeal on Tuesday to the World Bank's board to keep his job, Paul Wolfowitz said a loss of confidence in his leadership would be "grossly unfair" and he called for a fair resolution in a dispute over a pay and promotion deal for his companion.

In a last pitch to explain his actions in the agreement he directed for World Bank Middle East expert Shaha Riza, which sparked controversy in the bank, World Bank President Wolfowitz promised to make changes to his management style to regain the trust of bank staff.

"I respectfully submit, to criticize my actions or to find them as a basis for a loss of confidence would be grossly unfair and would be contrary to the evidence we have presented to you," Wolfowitz said in a statement to the board distributed by his lawyers.

"Rather than fix blame for something that wasn't wrong, we should all acknowledge our responsibility as I have acknowledged mine," he said, acknowledging he was not without fault.

He urged the board to be fair as it considered whether he should stay, resign or be fired for his actions.

"I implore each of you to be fair in making your decision, because your decision will not only affect my life, it will affect how this institution is viewed in the United States and the world," Wolfowitz said.

"In the last month, Shaha Riza and I have been held up to public ridicule," he said. "I have been caricatured as a 'boyfriend' who used his position of power to help his 'girlfriend'."