Powell Denies He'll Quit If Bush Wins in 2004

The US secretary of state, Colin Powell, was last night forced to deny that he would be stepping down after elections next year, after reports that he and his deputy, Richard Armitage, were planning to leave the White House.

The Washington Post said Mr Armitage recently informed Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, that he and Mr Powell would leave on January 21 2005, the day after the next presidential inauguration, even if Mr Bush won.

If Mr Powell were to go, it would remove a moderate conservative bastion that has sometimes acted as a check on the administration.

The state department and the White House denied the report, which quoted "sources close to the conversation" between Mr Armitage and Ms Rice. "There's no basis to the story at all," Philip Reeker, a state department spokesman said. "It must be August."

Mr Powell told a radio station: "This is just one of those stories that emerge in Washington that reflects nothing more than gossip, and the gossip leads to a rash of speculation about who might fill a vacancy that does not exist. The story has no substance."

However, while Scott McClellan, the White House spokesman, said the two men "serve at the pleasure of the president and are enjoying the job they are doing", he deflected questions about whether Mr Bush wanted to keep both men on if he won a second term, or their willingness to serve.

Privately, state department officials have long said they cannot imagine Mr Powell, 66, staying on. The secretary of state has struggled to make his voice heard above the chorus of neo-conservative hawks in the administration, while Mr Armitage has fought for the secretary of state's cause in the administration and in Congress.

They scored a few victories, helping persuade Mr Bush to take his case against Saddam to the UN before going to war, and making the White House spend resources on the Israeli-Palestinian road map to peace.

Mr Powell frequently felt isolated, however, and once jokingly told one European counterpart that hawks were conducting a "jihad" against him. But according to yesterday's report, he claims his plans to leave are more the result of a promise he made to his wife.

The departure would set the stage for a major shake-up of an administration which has stayed together through September 11 and the Iraq war.

As the president began his holiday at his Texas ranch and Washington's power brokers left town for August, the media was left to speculate on what shape the second Bush administration might take.

The current favourite as Mr Powell's successor is Ms Rice, a staunchly loyal Bush lieutenant and his closest foreign policy adviser.

"I certainly think Bush values loyalty above all else, so how can he say no to Condi?" said Michael O'Hanlon, a foreign policy expert at Washington's Brookings Institution. "She'll be 50 by then, with the experience of the first term behind her. She's been well received and she's good on television."

Ms Rice is not as ideologically driven as the vice-president, Dick Cheney, or the defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, and has occasionally sided with Mr Powell. More often, she has interpreted her role as furthering the internal debate, while echoing Mr Bush's instincts, unlike Mr Powell who fought for the state department's view.

"She's unlikely to stray too far from the president - so yes, Bush will lose a true counterweight to the hawks," Mr O'Hanlon said.

The scenario is likely to represent a net loss for British influence. Although Ms Rice has a good working relationship with Sir David Manning, the new British ambassador in Washington, most observers believe she will not be as ready as Mr Powell to fight alongside Mr Blair in policy battles,.

Her replacement is likely to be more hawkish - probably her deputy, Stephen Hadley or the deputy defence secretary and arch neo-conservative, Paul Wolfowitz. But there have been no signals from Ms Rice's office of any interest in such a move.