Colin Powell resigns

US Secretary of State Colin Powell has resigned from President Bush's new administration.

The former chief of US forces in the last Gulf War was widely expected to step down but the timing, just days after the death of Yassar Arafat, caught Washington by surprise.

General Powell was expected to visit the West Bank next week for talks with senior Palestinian leaders.

His resignation today will fuel speculation that President Bush is about to launch a major drive for peace between Israel and the Palestinians and wanted a new foreign policy chief prepared to carry on for the next four years.

A moderate voice in the Bush adminstation, General Powell was seen by many as a counterpoint to conservative hard-liners like Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney. There were persistant rumours of major clashes between the three men, particularly over Iraq, where General Powell was known to have expressed doubts about the Bush adminstration's policy.

A State Department official, who asked not to be named, said."The Secretary announced to his staff this morning that he had submitted his resignation on Friday. He said he was staying on until a successor is confirmed and on board."

It was General Powell who was given the job of selling the invasion of Iraq to the rest of the world, launching a series of diplomatic initiatives at the United Nations in New York

That included presenting so-called "evidence" of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, including lorries that were said to be concealing chemical weapons and metal pipes the US claimed had been obtained by Saddam to build nuclear bombs.

The evidence was later discredited by weapons inspection experts.

Behind the scenes, General Powell also worked to build President Bush's "coalition of the willing'' but persuaded on a few of American's most loyal allies to support the war, including Britain, Poland and Australia.

There was speculation that President Bush might appoint his national security advisor Condoleezza Rice or Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armatage to fill the job.

Powell, becomes the latest high-level member of President George W Bush's cabinet to announce plans to leave.

The White House was preparing an announcement to confirm Powell's resignation. According to one official, Powell expects that his departure date will be in January. It was not clear whether he will leave before Bush's second inauguration on 20 January.

Powell has had a controversial tenure in the chief of state's job, reportedly differing on some key issues at various junctures with Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

However, he has had good relations with his counterparts around the world, although his image standing has been strained by the war in Iraq.

The word of his imminent departure kicked off a new week of Cabinet shuffling for Bush. Education Secretary Rod Paige has also let it be known he wants to leave.

Meanwhile, Tony Blair will use a keynote speech at Mansion House tonight and a visit by Jacques Chirac to urge Europe to work more closely with President Bush. He will present himself as a broker between the EU and US.