Europeans harden opposition to Wolfowitz By Lesley Wroughton and Dave Graham European countries signaled on Wednesday they would resist any U.S. bid to keep World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz in place as the bank's board considered whether to endorse a report that found he broke bank rules. An endorsement of the report on Wolfowitz's handling of a promotion and pay rise for his companion in 2005 would effectively be a statement of no confidence in his leadership and would ramp up pressure on the former deputy U.S. defense chief to step down. The board adjourned its meeting on Wednesday until 2:30 p.m. (1830 GMT) at the request of the United States, which has backed Wolfowitz and so far not agreed to endorse the report, board and bank sources told Reuters. "The board is discussing whether to approve the panel's report, which would be as good as a no confidence vote in Mr. Wolfowitz, but the United States asked for an adjournment to consider its position," one senior board source said. In an apparent hardening of Germany's position, Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul advised Wolfowitz not to take part in a two-day World Bank forum on development aid for Africa which starts on Monday in the German capital. "He would do the bank and himself a great service if he resigned," Wieczorek-Zeul, one of Wolfowitz's strongest critics, told reporters in Berlin. "It would be the best thing for all concerned." Wolfowitz has been a controversial figure at the World Bank since his nomination by President George W. Bush in 2005 and has fought misgivings by European member countries over his role in the Iraq war while U.S. deputy defense secretary. The U.S. request for an adjournment sparked speculation within the bank that U.S. backing for Wolfowitz was softening, but White House reiterated its support. "We stand by our support of Paul as the World Bank president," White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters. The U.S. government failed in an effort to rally support for Wolfowitz among other rich Group of Seven countries on Tuesday. It had tried to a cut a deal that would have separated consideration of his ethics violations from a decision over whether he had the credibility to continue, but only Japan out of the G7 countries sided with the United States. G7 sources said most board members wanted a quick resolution to the protracted and messy battle over whether Wolfowitz should stay on, resign or be fired over the promotion for his companion, Shah Riza, a World Bank Middle East expert. LINES DRAWN Wolfowitz has remained defiant and has argued he should not take all the blame for the promotion and transfer of Riza to the State Department in 2005, saying he acted on the advice of a board ethics committee. In an emotional appeal to keep his job, he urged the board on Tuesday to be fair and promised to change his management style and rely more on the advice of bank staff than on aides he brought with him from the Pentagon. The attempt by the U.S. administration to cut a deal appeared to harden the positions of many of the board's 24 members, including some large developing countries, board officials said. Denmark, a key contributor to development projects in poor countries supported by the World Bank, said it was difficult to see how Wolfowitz could stay on at the poverty-fighting institution. "There is no doubt that the panel's report is very damaging for Paul Wolfowitz as head of the World Bank," Denmark's development minister, Ulla Tornaes, told Reuters. "And there is also no doubt that the prerequisites for continued cooperation between Wolfowitz and the bank's board doesn't seem to exist. It's difficult to see how he can continue," she said. The Bush administration, however, repeated its contention that Wolfowitz's "mistakes" did not justify his dismissal. "He clearly made some mistakes. He has said that," Snow said. "What happened in that case is not a firing offense in our opinion." (Additional reporting by Erik Matzen in Copenhagen)