WASHINGTON (Reuters) - World Bank officials at the forefront of the bank’s anti-corruption fight on Thursday voiced deep concern over the impact to their work from the crisis surrounding bank chief Paul Wolfowitz.

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz (2nd L) sits in the crowd as U.S. President George W. Bush (not pictured) makes a statement marking Malaria awareness day, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, April 25, 2007. REUTERS/Jason Reed

In a letter to Wolfowitz and the bank’s executive board, the officials said they could no longer credibly implement the bank’s anti-corruption strategy, which the former U.S. deputy defense secretary zealously campaigned for since he joined the bank in 2005.

The letter was signed by 32 officials, but an official who helped draft it told Reuters it was supported by more than 50.

It was the clearest sign yet that the controversy sparked by Wolfowitz’s approval of a promotion and pay increase for his girlfriend was affecting the bank’s operations around the globe.

“As is known, there are reports from the field offices of concrete cases where the bank’s policy dialogue and operational work on governance and anti-corruption are being undermined,” the group wrote in the letter, obtained by Reuters.

“The credibility of our front line staff is eroding in the face of legitimate questions from our clients about the bank’s ability to ‘practice what it preaches’ on governance.”

The letter follows calls by the bank’s staff association for Wolfowitz to step down over his handling of the promotion for his girlfriend Shaha Riza, before she was posted by the bank to the State Department because of their relationship.

Some World Bank member countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, France, Norway and Switzerland, have questioned whether Wolfowitz has the ability to still lead the bank.

CRITICAL TEST

In their letter, the group said the crisis was a critical test of the bank’s own commitment to good governance.

It called for “clear and decisive actions” to resolve the issue in a way that “demonstrates to all our stakeholders the bank’s commitment to the highest standards of integrity in leadership and accountability.”

The group said it was important for the legitimacy and trust in the institution that the crisis was resolved in a way that would allow the bank be effective in its work in poor countries.

In e-mails to Reuters, bank staff from around the globe have reported that government officials in East Africa, Asia and the Balkans, had questioned whether the institution had the authority to tell them what to do, especially on governance and anti-corruption measures.

The bank’s board has appointed a committee to look into ethical and conflict of interest issues around the promotion of Riza and has said it will move quickly toward a decision.

Wolfowitz’s lawyer, Robert Bennett, who had represented former U.S. President Bill Clinton, said this week the committee had denied him a chance to present his client’s case.

On Tuesday, the committee invited Wolfowitz to appear before it, to which Wolfowitz replied the following day in a note: “I am deeply troubled and feel that I am being treated shabbily and unfairly without regard to appropriate process.”

In the note to the committee’s chairman, Herman Wijffels, who represents the Netherlands and a clutch of other countries on the board, Wolfowitz asked for more time to prepare “not only in the interests of fairness to me but in the interests of good governance of the institution.”

“It is important not only for me but for the institution, that this matter not be resolved by a rush to judgment. That would only compound the damage to all concerned,” he wrote.