Reply #8: Contractor says was told to hire Wolfowitz friend

[IChing]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon ordered a U.S. contractor to hire a World Bank employee and girlfriend of then-Pentagon No. 2 Paul Wolfowitz in 2003 for work related to Iraq, the contractor said on Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for Science Applications International Corp., or SAIC, said the Defense Department's policy office directed the company to enter a subcontract with Shaha Riza, under which she spent a month studying ways to form a government in Iraq.

Wolfowitz, now president of the World Bank who has led a drive against corruption in developing countries, is under fire, including calls for his resignation, for agreeing to a high-paying promotion for Riza when he took over the bank post.

SAIC said Riza's subcontract lasted from April 25 to May 31, 2003. She was paid expenses but no salary during her trip to Iraq, at her request, according to the contractor.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1741985620070417?feedType=RSS