Powell resigns

US Secretary of State Colin Powell announced his resignation in a letter released yesterday saying it was time for him to return to private life.

The White House also released letters of resignation from Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman and Education Secretary Rod Paige.

"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," Mr Powell said in a letter to President George W. Bush dated last Friday.

"I, therefore, resign as the 65th secretary of state, effective at your pleasure," Mr Powell wrote.

Mr Abraham cited "the challenges of public life," and of "properly balancing the demands of one's job with the family and personal commitments one faces."

In her letter, Ms Veneman said: "We have made great progress during the past four years and I feel now is an appropriate time for me to move on to new opportunities."

Mr Paige said he planned to return to Texas "where I can devote attention to a personal project, which I began planning prior to assuming my present responsibilities."

Mr Powell was the first black man to hold the most senior US cabinet office.

He was born to Jamaican parents in New York City on April 5, 1937. He received a commission as an Army second lieutenant on graduation from City College of New York in 1958.

He served two tours of duty in Vietnam. His military decorations include a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and the Defence Distinguished Service Medal.

After serving as national security adviser to President Ronald Reagan in the late 1980s he was named as the first black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the most senior US uniformed post. He retired from the military in 1993, after overseeing US operations in the 1991 Gulf War.

He resisted pressure from some to stand for president in the late 1990s and was named secretary of state by President George W. Bush, taking over in early 2001 after unanimous confirmation by the Senate. He was seen around the world as the more accommodating figure in a unilateralist Bush administration, but was loyal to the president. He made a dramatic presentation at the United Nations of evidence backing Mr Bush's hard-line policy against Iraq that paved the way for the US invasion last year.