Wolfowitz Offers to Make Changes

Her contract was one of seven awarded to SAIC when Pentagon leaders believed that it would be a simple matter to overthrow Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, set up a new government and leave. Other contracts called for SAIC to establish a media network in Iraq and to advise the oil industry. The contracts were later criticized by the department's inspector general for a lack of competitive bidding, poor results and no oversight.

Both SAIC and Riza -- a British citizen with degrees from the London School of Economics and Oxford University who has worked on gender and civil society issues -- have said she received no salary and only expense reimbursements for her several weeks in Iraq. It is unclear from the contract whether Riza was compensated.

Riza's lawyer, Victoria Toensing, said Tuesday that her client "did get permission from the bank, through her supervisor" to undertake the Iraq mission, which according to SAIC lasted from April 25 to May 31, 2003. But Riza's bank supervisor at the time, former Mideast director Jean-Louis Sarbib, said in an interview that "there was no request, as far as I know" to obtain a waiver of bank rules barring such activity.

He said Riza had simply requested a leave of absence to visit Iraq. "If I had known that not only was she going to work for another government, but it was a DOD contract, I don't think you need very much imagination to say this would have raised all sorts of red lights," Sarbib said.

Upon her return, Riza briefed the bank board at its request about the situation in Iraq but did not mention her Pentagon contract, he said.

Riza's role in the SAIC effort -- although not her relationship with Wolfowitz -- was initially reported by the Washington-based Center for Public Integrity in October 2003, which published it as part of a critical analysis of the secrecy surrounding SAIC's Iraq contracts with the Pentagon. Feith's top deputy at the time was Ryan Henry, a former SAIC vice president.

Staff writers Krissah Williams and Al Kamen contributed to this report.