World Bank to boost Iraq presence despite shooting (at a checkpoint in Baghdad)

WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) - The World Bank's No. 2 official on Friday defended the lender's decision to ramp up its presence in Iraq after a staff driver was caught in cross-fire and wounded at a checkpoint in Baghdad last month.

Managing Director Juan Jose Daboub said the World Bank regretted the incident and had evacuated the Iraqi man to neighboring Jordan for treatment.

The World Bank's involvement in Iraq has been a delicate issue for bank President Paul Wolfowitz, the former U.S. deputy defense secretary. He still faces questions about his role in the planning of the four-year war, which is opposed by some of the bank's biggest members including France and Germany.

A Washington-based whistle-blower protection group this week charged that the bank was trying to cover up the shooting as it prepares to broaden its operations in Iraq and appoint a new country director despite an increase in violence.

"Wolfowitz's apparent determination to use the World Bank to further questionable American military goals in the Middle East is a fundamental distortion of the bank's mission, a violation of its founding Articles of Agreement, and a reckless waste of donor resources," Bea Edwards, the group's international program director, said in a statement.

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