Washington, May 15 (AP): Paul Wolfowitz should remain chief of the World Bank, US Vice President Dick Cheney said as the poverty-fighting institution moved closer to deciding Wolfowitz's fate.

The bank's 24-member board could very well make a decision this week. European members are leading the charge for Wolfowitz to resign.

Asked whether Wolfowitz should stay in his job, Cheney, in an interview with Fox News in Aqaba, Jordan, replied "I do."

The vice president went on to praise Wolfowitz, who was the No 2 official at the Pentagon and an architect of the US-led Iraq war, before he took the bank's helm in June 2005.

"I think Paul is one of the most able public servants I've ever known, and I've worked with him a lot over the years," Cheney said yesterday. "I think he's a very good president of the World Bank, and I hope he will be able to continue."

A special bank panel has accused Wolfowitz of circumventing conflict-of-interest rules when he arranged for a 2005 hefty compensation pay package for his girlfriend, Shaha Riza, a bank employee.

Wolfowitz, who submitted his response to the allegations late Friday, is scheduled to make an appearance before the board today. The proceedings are not public.

Board members have discussed a range of disciplinary options. It could fire Wolfowitz, ask him to resign, signal that it lacks confidence in his leadership or reprimand him.