Wolfowitz asked to clear off

Zionist Neocohn $aul Wolfowitz last night received his second vote of confidence in three days from George Bush, as the World Bank president came under more pressure to resign from the Washington-based organisation.

"The president has full confidence in Paul Wolfowitz", said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino; he had done "a remarkable job". It came on a day when Mr Wolfowitz faced down a growing rebellion by his staff over the way he took charge of moving his partner, Shaha Riza, from the bank to a highly paid job at the US state department.

The bank's staff association has called on him to go, saying it seemed impossible for an institution, whose mission is to fight global poverty, to move forward "with any sense of purpose under the present leadership". The Bretton Woods Institute said the bank's credibility was in tatters, while Oxfam International said that if Mr Wolfowitz had broken the rules it was "very hard to see how he could continue".