The New York Times reports that

"Paul D. Wolfowitz accused the bank's board on Wednesday of treating him 'shabbily and unfairly,'and appealed for more time to defend himself against allegations of favoritism and other matters,"

"[T]he bank's board is also investigating allegations that he has relied on a small coterie of aides, also with high salaries, and that he has promoted Bush administration policies in the area of family planning and climate change."(Emphasis supplied.)

The board, whose members represent various countries or groups of countries, is considering a number of options. The most extreme would be to invoke governance rules allowing the board to remove a president outright, though some officials said that was unlikely.

Alternatively, the board could reprimand Mr. Wolfowitz or call for his resignation with a kind of no-confidence vote. Another alternative would be to do nothing but negotiate with the United States, the Europeans and others for Mr. Wolfowitz to resign voluntarily.