World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz speaks at a news conference at the International Monetary Fund headquarters building in Washington April 12, 2007. Wolfowitz said on Thursday he made "a mistake for which I am sorry" over his handling of the promotion and pay increase of a staff member, Shaha Riza, whom he is dating. [Reuters]

WASHINGTON - The woman at the center of a scandal that could force the resignation of World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz says she has been victimized and forced to take a transfer she never wanted in the first place.

Shaha Riza said she was surprised when told she had to take an outside assignment because of her relationship with Wolfowitz, according to a recent memo to a committee reviewing her promotion and salary increase, which has caused an uproar at the World Bank.

"I would like to reiterate that I did not wish to leave the bank and I did not, and do not, expect any special considerations," she said.

Riza, a former gender specialist and a senior communications officer in the bank's Middle East Department, said she hoped to return to the bank as soon as possible to continue her career from within.

"I did not wish to leave the bank," she said. "I have now been victimized for agreeing to an arrangement that I have objected to and that I did not believe from the outset was in my best interest."

Riza accepted a promotion to the State Department in September 2005 shortly after Wolfowitz joined the bank, after a World Bank ethics committee said she should be relocated to avoid conflict of interest issues.

But Riza said she would not have reported to him.

"Afterall, in the eighth year of my bank service, I did not directly or indirectly report to Mr. Wolfensohn," she said of former World Bank president James Wolfensohn.

The uproar in the bank is over her promotion to a senior position and salary increases, which according to leaked documents puts her annual salary at $193,590. She remains on the bank's payroll.

In the memo, Riza said she hoped the bank's board would find a "reasonable and equitable solution that will bring to an end the unwarranted and malicious public and private attacks." The issue has caused her personal pain and stress, she said.

State Department spokesman Tom Casey said on Friday Riza worked as an advisor to the board of directors of the Foundation for the Future, a largely U.S.-funded NGO.

The foundation was created to hand out grants to civil society groups trying to "foster democracy and freedom in the broader Middle East and North Africa."