World Bank President Resigning Amid Conflict of Interest Scandal（1/2）

The resignation followed a day-long meeting of the bank's 24-member executive board. In a statement, Wolfowitz said his resignation was in the best interests of the 185 member-nation bank and would take effect June 30th.

A statement from the board said it accepted that Wolfowitz thought he had acted ethically in arranging a promotion and pay increase for his female companion, a bank employee. That two-year old controversy evolved into charges of ethicsviolations and prompted some European governments to demand his ouster.

Wolfowitz has had a stormy relationship with the bank's professional staff ever since he became president two years ago. While at the U.S. defense department he was a principalarchitect" class="hjdict" word="architect" target=_blank>architect of the war in Iraq that is deeply unpopular among many bank staff, less than 30 percent of whom are American.

President Bush, after weeks of insisting that Wolfowitz should retain his job, Thursday acknowledged that his former associate had lost the battle.

"All I can tell you is I know that Paul Wolfowitz has an interest in what's best for the Bank."