The Wolfowitz connection: Anwar Ibrahim’s hand in Shaha Riza’s transfer
Paul Wolfowitz pulled many strings to set up his girlfriend, Shaha Riza, with a cushy job outside the World Bank, according to US press reports.
Was Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, a long-time friend of the beleaguered bank president, one of them?
On Oct 1 last year, as chairman of the Foundation for the Future, Anwar wrote a letter to Robin Cleveland, Wolfowitz’s counsellor at the World Bank, asking for Riza to be transferred from the State Department to the foundation.
That move raised her pay by 36 per cent from US$133,000 (RM454,000) to US$193,590.
And in 2005, Anwar, a former finance minister, had supported Wolfowitz’s appointment to the World Bank.
According to Nik Nazmi, Anwar believed Wolfowitz was capable of doing the job as he had a passion for eradicating poverty. Anwar was also appointed consultant to the World Bank in the areas of governance and accountability.
Anwar told Bloomberg this month that the onus was on Wolfowitz to explain the salary raise for Riza.
“He has to really explain and they have to see whether the increase in terms of remuneration was commensurate with the services,” he said.
Nik Nazmi added that when Anwar wrote the letter, he followed the appropriate rules and guidelines detailing Riza’s transfer to the foundation:
“As far as he (Anwar) was aware, he went through the proper channels to ask for Ri- za’s transfer to the foundation.”
He did not confirm whether Wolfowitz had recommended Riza for the position and had asked Anwar to write the letter.
“The foundation board will issue a statement pertaining to Riza’s transfer to the foundation as soon as possible,” Nik Nazmi said.
The foundation was launch- ed in December 2005 by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and ministers from the Middle East and Europe, reportedly with a seed grant of US$35 million, to promote democracy and reform in the Middle East and North Africa.
According to the Washington Post, the board has held only two meetings since then.
Source: New Straits Times
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Malaysia's Anwar says he's being demonized over Wolfowitz ties « omong
May 22, 2007
It is important to clarify the facts in this case which is being used by Malaysian government controled media and the blogging community to unjustly smear the reputation of the Foundation and of Anwar Ibrahim.
Documents released by the World Bank Ethics Committee, and accessible in the public domain to anyone with an internet connection illustrate the following:
1. An attempt was made by the Bank, PW, and SR to follow due process in resolving the conflict of interest at the Bank. Whether they succeeded in that attempt is the crux of the matter and is addressed in the more recent statement by the Bank and PW.
2. That Riza’s raise and external assignment to the State Department were the result of deliberations that took place within the World Bank during the Summer of 2005 and that were finalized in September 2005. Neither Anwar Ibrahim personally nor the Foundation for the Future as an organization (which did not even exist at that point) had anything to do with either her raise or external assignment to the State Department.
3. That the Foundation for the Future did nothing inappropriate. The Foundation did not exist in September 2005. It was an idea that existed on paper and could not have been party to any negotiations of any sort. Once the Foundation was a real institution it was in a position to hire staff and to formally assign Riza to the Foundation and dissolve her association with the State Department which was clearly no longer necessary. Anwar Ibrahim’s October 2006 letter as Chairman of the Foundation to the Bank reaffirms SR’s mandate to work to build and develop the Foundation (which was the focus of her assignment to the State Department as described in a september 2005 letter between the State Dept. and the World Bank). The letter makes no mention of SR’s salary other than to refer to the existing arrangement that had already been made with the State Department.
Like all multilateral initiatives we have to differentiate between pledges, commitments, and the actual transfer of funds. It is quite common for nations to pledge hundreds of millions in assistance for natural disasters, reconstruction, poverty assistance, etc. But the actual transfer of those funds often never happens, long after people have forgotten about the initial commitments.
On November 12 2005 the State Department issued a release announcing the Foundation for the Future and indicating “[t]o date, initial contributing Governments have committed over $50 million dollars to this initiative. Political supporters and financial contributors include Bahrain, Denmark, the European Commission, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Morocco, Jordan, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Qatar, Yemen, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Forum will continue to seek political and financial support from governments, private foundations, and individuals for the Foundation.”
Anwar Ibrahim has indicated that the US has not disbursed any funds to the Foundation. The US may have pledged a large sum but there is no reason to believe that all of the nations listed above have met all or any of their commitments. The Chairman of an organization is in as good a position as any to indicate the truth of the matter of funding. A recent Washington Post article does not name a source within the State Department to substantiate the claim that the US has actually disbursed funds to the Foundation in any amount. If indeed that has been done then one can expect the State Department to be forthcoming in clarifying that point to the public. The Washington Post also could have verified facts with the Foundation.
It should be stated that Ibrahim served with other respected individuals from the Middle East to assemble the Board of Directors of the Foundation. This press release is available in the public domain. It is also worth mentioning the list of other Board Members serving the Foundation, representing a distinguished group of people from around the world, which can be viewed on the website of the Foundation for the Future.
Adam Soliman
May 24, 2007
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