WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (AFP) - US President George W. Bush has accepted the resignations of Secretary of State Colin Powell and three other members of his cabinet, which the White House made public on Monday.
"As we have discussed in recent months, I believe that now that the election is over, the time has come for me to step down as Secretary of State and return to private life," Powell said in a letter to Bush dated November 12.
"I, therefore, resign as the 65th Secretary of State, effective at your pleasure," Powell said in the one-page, typewritten missive.
The White House said it would not announce replacements for Powell, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman; Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham; and Education Secretary Rod Paige on Monday.
"The president has accepted their resignations," a senior administration official said. Another official said the release of the letters meant Bush had accepted the resignations.
"That doesn`t mean they`re leaving today," Bush spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters. "They all have jobs to do, and they will continue to do their job."
Commerce Secretary Don Evans and Attorney General John Ashcroft resigned last week, and Bush quickly nominated his official government lawyer, Al Gonzales, to replace Ashcroft. Evans` successor has not been announced.
In his letter, Powell said he was "pleased to have been part of a team that launched the Global War Against Terror, liberated the Afghan and Iraqi people, brought the attention of the world to the problem of proliferation, reaffirmed our alliances, adjusted to the post-Cold War World and undertook major intiatives to deal with the problem of poverty and disease in the developing world."
"In these and in so many other areas, your leadership was the driving force of our success," said Powell, who thanked Bush for "the honor and privilege of serving" and praised State Department employees.
11/15/2004 17:13 GMT - AFP