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In the Shadow of a Scandal
Shaha Riza has been described as impressive, articulate and a passionate advocate for women's rights.
(2003 World Bank Photo)
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The manifesto that emerged from the 40 civil society groups and democracy advocates, and later presented to Group of Eight foreign ministers, said: "Dictatorship must now be declared a crime against humanity."
"It was extraordinary," says Mallat, now a visiting professor at Princeton. Yet Riza did not seek the spotlight for her role, he says.
Wolfowitz had detractors at the bank before setting a foot in the door. "People at the World Bank were ill-disposed of him from Day One," says Desmond Lachman, a resident fellow and bank watcher at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. "His girlfriend is a sideshow."
After Wolfowitz assumed the bank's presidency, Riza went briefly to the State Department, where her colleagues included Elizabeth Cheney, deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, and the daughter of Vice President Cheney. Later Riza transferred to become an adviser to the president and board of the Foundation for the Future, a nonprofit entity partially supported by the State Department to promote democracy in the Middle East and North Africa.
Wolfowitz and Riza's romantic involvement was for years one of the most well-guarded secrets in Washington and the Arab world. "It wasn't known at all," says Mallat, whom Riza introduced to Wolfowitz and Elizabeth Cheney just before the Iraq war started in 2003. "She was extremely careful at the time; and it is not the kind of question you ask," says Mallat.
In the past, Riza has expressed concern about ramifications from her relationship with Wolfowitz. Even so, she attended private parties in Wolfowitz's company with prominent Washingtonians, including journalists.
The public airing of their private life together has taken a toll on both sides.
Will their relationship survive this Washington tempest?
"I think so," says journalist Candar, who has known Riza for 22 years. "There is nothing that suggests the opposite for me at the moment."
Staff writers Sridhar Pappu, Al Kamen and Karen DeYoung contributed to this report.
