The European Parliament on Wednesday adopted a resolution calling for the resignation of World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, who was accused of approving a high-paying promotion for his girl friend.

By 332 votes against 251, the European Union assembly added a paragraph to a resolution on next week's EU-US summit, calling on Germany, currently holding the presidency of the 27-nation bloc, and the United States to ask Wolfowitz to step down.

They should "signal to the president of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz, that his withdrawal from the post would be a welcome step towards preventing the bank's anti-corruption policy from being undermined," the paragraph said.

Wolfowitz, a former member of Bush's administration, already faces calls to step down following revelations he approved a high-paying promotion for his bank-employee girl friend before she was assigned to work at the US State Department.

The annual EU-US summit is to be held in Washington on April 30. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are due to meet President George W. Bush.

(Xinhua News Agency April 26, 2007)