QUITO, Nov 15 (AFP) - US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Monday he has not discussed resigning with President George W. Bush and indicated again that he wants to stay in his key post to see through the war on terror.
Rumsfeld, in the Ecuador capital as part of a South American tour, was pressed about his future following the resignation of Secretary of State Colin Powell. The two had battled within the US cabinet over the handling of the Iraq invasion.
"I have not discussed with him at all, in writing or oral," Rumsfeld said when asked whether he had raised his future with the US president.
Rumsfeld said his priorities were "to win the global war on terror, to continue the work in Afghanistan and Iraq, which is part of that war, and to see that we continue the process of tranforming the department so that it's appropiate for the 21st century."
Powell reportedly opposed Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney over the handling of the Iraq invasion in March, 2003, but the defence secretary played down their differences.
"I've enjoyed working with Colin," said Rumsfeld. "Needless to say, we've covered lot of miles together. I was not aware he was going to resign. He's an enormously talented individual. I've thoroughly enjoyed working with him."
His comments also acknowledged the differences with Powell however.
"I've been kind of amused at the press desire to sell newsprint by constantly creating, trying to fabricate friction," Rumsfeld said.
"But the truth is if you go back in history, you find that the reality is that presidents tend to like to have people who are not carbon copies of each other."
Rumsfeld arrived in Quito on Sunday for a biennial meeting of Latin American defence ministers. Quito is the final stop in his tour of the region, after El Salvador, Nicaragua and Panama.
He said the priority of the meeting had been to find ways to strengthen cooperation in the war on terrorism and against drug traffickers and crime gangs.
"There is no question that there are terrorist organisations that are functioning in the US, in North America, and in South America and Central America," said Rumsfeld.
"We have to worry about all of those things that I have mentioned and certainly the flow of narcotics is an important one, certainly hostage takers."
According to Rumsfeld there was a risk that gangs smuggling humans and drugs into the United States from South America "could be used just as easily for terrorists."
11/15/2004 23:59 GMT - AFP