Bush to choose Rice as Powell successor

US national security adviser Condoleezza Rice will be nominated to succeed outgoing secretary of state Colin Powell, it emerged today.

A senior US administration source said President George Bush was expected to put the former Stanford University provost forward as America’s top diplomat.

If confirmed by the Senate, Dr Rice – a close aide to the president – would become the second black secretary of state and the second woman to hold the post.

Mr Powell said yesterday that had reached a “mutual agreement” with President Bush to step down, but would delay his exit until a successor was appointed.

His widely-expected departure – days after attorney general John Ashcroft also announced his resignation – brought to six the number of Cabinet officials to leave the administration since Mr Bush’s re-election.

Mr Powell said he had frequently discussed his plans with Mr Bush to serve for only one term.

He said: “As we got closer to the election and in the immediate aftermath of the election it seemed an appropriate time and we were in mutual agreement that it was the appropriate time for me to move on. We knew where we were heading.

“I will always treasure the four years I have spent with President Bush and with the wonderful men and women at the Department of State. I think we have accomplished a great deal.”

Agriculture secretary Ann Venneman, education secretary Rod Paige and energy secretary Spencer Abraham also submitted their resignations yesterday.

Commerce secretary Donald Evans said last week that he would leave the administration.

Mr Powell’s departure from the State Department, expected in January, may allow his successor to take the initiative in the Middle East peace process, which is entering a crucial stage following the death of Yasser Arafat.

Mr Powell, a retired army general who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the first Gulf War – faced a series of clashes with the Pentagon and with the vice president’s office during his time in the Bush administration.

He was widely regarded as a dove, urging restraint ahead of the Iraq war while defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and vice president Dick Cheney were pushing for military action.

Mr Powell, 67, saw his profile within the administration shrink, leading many to conclude he had lost the internal power struggle.

Some observers believe Mr Powell, who last December underwent surgery for prostate cancer, may be stepping down due to exhaustion, following the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the response to the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Possibly the low point of Mr Powell’s career came shortly before the invasion of Iraq when he made the case for war based on what turned out to be flawed intelligence.

During a hearing at the United Nations on February 5, 2003, he memorably held up a vial of white powder, describing the effect it could have if it were anthrax.

It was supposed to be a demonstration of the danger Iraq posed with its much-vaunted weapons of mass destruction.

But as the world would find out soon after the invasion, such weapons never existed.

Dr Rice has been a close aide to Mr Bush as his national security adviser.

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, she graduated from the University of Denver at the age of just 19.

She went on to win a doctorate and in 1981 began teaching at Stanford University, where she later served as provost.

Only one other woman has held the post of secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, who served in the Clinton administration.

Mr Powell was the first African-American secretary of state.