WOLFOWITZ AND GAL PAL SPLIT UP May 23, 2007 -- PAUL Wolfowitz has really had a bad couple of weeks. He not only lost his job, he lost his girlfriend, too.
Wolfowitz, one of the architects of the Iraq war, was pushed out as president of the World Bank over a controversial pay and promotion package he arranged for his brunette girlfriend, Shaha Ali Riza.
Sources say Riza, a brilliant feminist with a promising diplomatic career, was upset by all the publicity and the implication that she was getting ahead with the help of a powerful man. "She was furious about the embarrassment," said one source.
Last week, Wolfowitz bowed to mounting pressure over the cronyism scandal, agreeing to step down June 30. The announcement came nine months after Page Six first revealed how he'd ruffled the feathers of World Bank employees by dating, and then promoting, the Tunisian divorcée, who managed the bank's External Relations and Outreach for the Middle East and North Africa Region.
After Wolfowitz joined the World Bank, Ali Riza was first transferred to a joint World Bank/U.S. Agency for International Development multinational investment project, and then to work on the bank's South American interests.
"Apparently she never asked for a promotion and liked her old job," our source said.
Investigative reporter Wayne Madsen, who broke some of the first stories on the Wolfowitz scandal on http://waynemadsenreport.com, said reliable sources confirmed to him "that Wolfie and Shaha are history."
Madsen adds that last week, he spotted Ali Riza by herself, walking up 19th Street in Washington from World Bank offices after Wolfowitz appeared in a closed-door meeting before the bank's executive board. "I thought to myself . . . it's strange she'd be alone right now," Madsen said.
Both the World Bank and Wolfowitz's personal assistant declined to comment on the breakup, the latter referring us to his lawyer, Bob Bennett. A detailed message left with Bennett's assistant was not returned. The World Bank said it had no contact information for Ali Riza.
Meanwhile, a World Bank source told us Ali Riza may be returning to the bank's main Washington offices after Wolfowitz officially steps down. Wolfowitz remains legally separated from Clare Selgin, an expert on Indonesian anthropology.