US Secretary of State Colin Powell has resigned.
Reports on Monday said that Powell has been asked to stay till a replacement is found. The White House was preparing an announcement to confirm Powell's resignation.
National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice is one of the names being mentioned to succeed Powell, the reports said.
Besides Powell, secretaries of education, energy and agriculture, Rod Paige, Spencer Abraham and Ann M Veneman respectively, also put in their papers, reports said.
Colin Powell took over as the Secretary of State on January 20, 2001, after George W Bush became the President. He was the 65th Secretary of State.
He served the United States Army for 35 years and was also the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Before assuming the charge, he had also worked as a key aide to the Secretary of Defence and also as National Security Advisor.
Powell supervised Operation Desert Storm in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
His was born in New York City on April 5, 1937, of parents, who had migrated to the USA from Jamaica.
In the Bush administration, Powell was regarded as a moderate voice on several issues, especially on Iraq.
Also read