Rove Off the Hook - for Now

Karl Rove, the chief political advisor to the US president, George Bush, will not be charged today with leaking the identity of a covert CIA agent but will remain under investigation, according to reports.

The office of special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald told Mr Rove's legal team investigators had not completed their inquiries into the political strategist's conduct, the Associated Press quoted two people close to the Republican advisor as saying.

Lawyers were reportedly told there still were matters to resolve before the prosecutor "decides what he is going to do, so Mr Rove will not be indicted today".

Later today, Mr Fitzgerald will reveal the results of his 22-month investigation into how Valerie Plame's cover was blown, days after her diplomat husband, Joseph Wilson, had accused the US government of twisting evidence about Iraq's weapons programme.

Mr Fitzpatrick is expected to reveal whether Lewis Libby, chief of staff to the vice- president, Dick Cheney, will be indicted.

In another day of highly charged speculation and private briefings in Washington, AP reported that White House colleagues expected an indictment charging Mr Libby with making false statements.

The lack of any immediate charges against Mr Rove is a mixed outcome for the administration: while it keeps in place the president's top adviser, the architect of his political machine, whose fingerprints can be found on virtually every policy that emerges from the White House, the continuing investigation prevents the Bush administration from putting an end to the rumours sweeping Capitol Hill about who said and did what to whom.

Mr Rove, who testified four times before the grand jury, has stepped back from some of his political duties, such as speaking at fundraisers.

Mr Libby reportedly told local media as he left home this morning that he may be formally charged, but Mr Rove was quoted as saying he would not be indicted today.

Mr Fitzgerald may conclude his inquiry with or without indictments or, as he indicated yesterday, he may choose to extend the inquiry.

Mr Bush has already experienced his worst week since taking office, with the 2000th US soldier dying in Iraq and his lawyer, Harriet Miers, whom he had personally recommended for the vacant post on the supreme court, being forced to withdraw her nomination amid mounting rightwing Republican protests.

The trail leading to the CIA leak began when Mr Wilson, a former US ambassador, was sent to Niger in 2002 to check intelligence reports that Saddam Hussein was trying to buy African uranium. The reports had been based on documents that turned out to be forged, and by early summer 2003 Mr Wilson began anonymously telling journalists he had found no evidence to support claims made by the president about Iraq's nuclear programme.

In July 2003, Mr Wilson went public with his allegations in a newspaper article, suggesting that the Bush administration had twisted the intelligence over weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

Eight days later, on July 14 2003, a conservative columnist citing "two senior administration officials", reported that Mr Wilson's wife, Ms Plame, was a CIA operative and claimed she had suggested he be sent to Niger.

Ms Plame had been a covert agent, and the deliberate disclosure of her identity was a crime. The investigation has been aimed at discovering which administration officials, if any, told the press about her as part of a campaign to discredit Mr Wilson's African mission.

The vice-president, Dick Cheney, who has also been in the spotlight over his possible link to the affair, arrived at the White House today at 6.25am (1125BST), more than an hour earlier than usual. Mr Libby, was seen leaving home about 6.15am, his normal commuting time. Mr Rove also arrived at the White House to await his fate.

The possible charges facing Mr Libby and Mr Rove are obstruction of justice or perjury, along with possible violations of a law barring disclosure of the identity of a covert intelligence agent. Some lawyers have raised the spectre of broader conspiracy charges as well.

When the investigation began two years ago, a White House spokesman checked with Mr Rove and Mr Libby before assuring the public that neither had been involved in leaking Ms Plame's identity.

In the past month, it was revealed that Mr Libby spoke to the New York Times reporter Judith Miller, who says their conversations touched on Ms Plame's status with the CIA.