But there is so much distrust of the United States at the bank that some saw these and other comments as a feint designed to keep Mr. Wolfowitz in office.

“The odds of this flying are very, very low,” said a senior bank official, speaking anonymously about sensitive internal discussions. “It is too little, too late. It might have been possible a day or two ago, but not after he was found guilty as charged of a whole slew of violations.”

A senior European official, speaking anonymously, said European and Canadian ministries found the American approach outlined in the conference call to be a tough sell.

“The general view from capitals, with the exception of the Japanese,” he said, “is that it is impossible to disentangle the charges of misconduct and corruption from the credibility of the bank, which is going around the world lecturing countries not to engage in misconduct and corruption.”

Nevertheless, the administration held out some hope this evening that it could get its point of view across. There was a fear, some administration officials said, that the two-track approach would entail a long investigative process examining Mr. Wolfowitz’s leadership abilities, when in fact such an inquiry could be finished quickly.

It appeared that the best the administration could hope for was the possibility of President Bush appealing personally to Prime Minister Tony Blair, with whom he is scheduled to meet at the White House on Wednesday, and other elected leaders.

A factor that kept emotions high was today’s disclosure of documents that seemed to buttress the bank committee’s conclusion that Mr. Wolfowitz had tried to keep the pay and promotion arrangement for Ms. Riza a secret.