US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell today dismissed persistent speculation that he will resign over differences with conservatives in US President Mr Bush's administration.
Mr Powell also said he stood behind a decision to cut millions of dollars in US funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) that had been the cause of the latest resignation rumors.
"No," he told reporters when asked if he was considering resigning.
"You all insist on writing this story every two weeks," Mr Powell said when asked about a New York Timesstory that said the secretary, despite being "embattled" and "scrutinized" would remain in his post.
It said that despite swirling rumors of his resignation, Mr Powell, a retired general and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, would "soldier on" as secretary of state.
"For all the resignation stories, I can go back and do (an Internet search) and you've been doing them every two weeks since I came in here last year," he said.
"And I'm sure you'll continue to do them," Mr Powell said, "It's great reading."
The New York Timesstory said the UNFPA decision was the latest in a series of foreign policy battles that Mr Powell, a social liberal considered to be the most moderate of Bush's top aides, had lost to conservatives.
Mr Powell said that he had made the decision to cut funding to the UNFPA, an agency that he told lawmakers last year did "invaluable work," because it was inconsistent with legislation that bars US funding for projects involving coercive abortion or involuntary sterilisation.
He said the $34 million in cut funding to the UNFPA was being redirected to similar programs run by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and that the total amount of US money for family planning was actually on the rise.
AFP