Rice to replace Powell as US secretary of state

WASHINGTON (AFP) - President George W. Bush is to appoint his national security advisor Condoleezza Rice to replace Secretary of State Colin Powell, who has resigned his post along with several other members of the Bush cabinet, senior officials said.
If her appointment is confirmed by the Senate, Rice would become only the second woman to hold the top cabinet post after Madeleine Albright, Powell`s predecessor.
A trained concert pianist, fluent Russian speaker and an expert on arms control, Rice, who turned 50 on Sunday, had been tipped for months as a leading contender to succeed Powell.
Bush plans to turn to deputy national security adviser Stephen Hadley to replace Rice, who is one of the president`s closest advisers and confidants, said the senior officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Powell will stay on as secretary of state until his replacement is confirmed, Bush spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters Monday after Powell`s November 12 resignation letter was made public.
Powell was the most senior of four members of Bush`s cabinet to quit on Monday.
Bush, who won a second mandate on November 2, accepted the resignation of the former top general who directed the 1991 war against Iraq but was only a lukewarm supporter of last year`s invasion to oust Saddam Hussein.
In his letter of resignation, Powell indicated that he has been in longstanding discussions with the president about leaving.
"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, 67, said in his letter.
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, 59, was also likely to step down, officials said.
The White House on Monday also announced the departure of Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Education Secretary Rod Paige. Attorney General John Ashcroft and Commerce Secretary Don Evans quit last week.
But Powell has created the greatest stir, depriving the administration of a highly regarded voice on the international scene at a time when Bush hoped to mend fences after the Iraq war and revive Middle East peace talks.
Bush described Powell as "a soldier, a diplomat, a civic leader, a statesman and a great patriot," and praised his work over the past four years.
Powell "is one of the great public servants of our time," Bush said in a statement.
Tributes also flowed in from around the world.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan had a "very warm working relationship" with Powell and especially appreciated "support for the United Nations and for multilateral approaches to problem-solving," said Annan spokesman Fred Eckhard.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair called Powell "a remarkable man who has been a good friend to this country over a very long period."
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, a staunch backer of the US-led invasion of Iraq, said that whoever succeeds Powell, "there is no change in the importance of US-Japan relations."
Powell "showed a great understanding of Japanese policy and contributed to promoting friendship between the US and Japan," Koizumi said.
Powell is the son of Jamaican immigrants who rose to become a four star general and then the highest ranking African American to serve in the US government.
Rice would become the first black woman to hold the top diplomatic post.
The timing of Powell`s resignation announcement was unexpected, as Powell plans to visit the Middle East after the death of Palestinian patriarch Yasser Arafat.
The Palestinians` foreign minister, Nabil Shaath, said Powell would visit next week. The State Department said no date had been set.
Powell, scheduled to attend an Asian economic summit in Chile this week, a conference on Iraq in Egypt next week and perhaps a spate of European meetings in December, denied his resignation would affect his work.
"I expect to act fully as secretary of state until I do leave. I will be working hard until the very, very end," he told reporters.
As head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Powell was the military architect of the 1991 Gulf War effort to force Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. He saw a turbulent four years as secretary of state marked by the September 11, 2001 attacks and the Iraq invasion.
Pursuing a pragmatic policy of multilateral diplomacy, Powell reportedly clashed frequently with administration hardliners such as Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld who favored pre-emptive military action.
But he refused to talk publicly about the tensions or his future intentions.
Many reports said Powell had felt personally wounded after giving a presentation to the UN Security Council on February 5, 2003 on the US case for an invasion of Iraq because of weapons of mass destruction.
No chemical, biological or nuclear weapons programmes have been found.
The leading US dailies on Tuesday stressed Powell`s moderating influence and military bearing.
The New York Times lamented that Powell`s "enormous stature and his image as a moderating force ... were squandered in defending a unilateral decision he did not agree with to launch a war (in Iraq) in which he did not really seem to believe."

11/16/2004 - 17:33 GMT - AFP