Giuliani to quit senate race

Rudolph Giuliani: Dropping out of the race

New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has decided to drop out of the state's US Senate race, according to a Republican Party source.

The source, quoted by the AP news agency, said Mr Giuliani would announce on Friday that he was stepping down.

The mayor is due to hold a news conference at 1400 local time (1800 GMT).

Mr Giuliani's campaign has been dogged in recent weeks by health problems and a failing marriage.

Giuliani has acknowledged a relationship with Judith Nathan

He has separated from his wife and is suffering from prostate cancer. Fifty-six-year old Mr Giuliani has been quoted in recent weeks as saying politics was no longer the most important thing in his life.

The move will help Hillary Clinton, the Democrat candidate, in her attempt to win the New York Senate seat.

Mr Giuliani had been considered the Republican Party's best candidate to challenge the president's wife.

Alternative

Mrs Clinton declined to comment on the reports.

"I will wait until we know for sure... I have no control or say over what happens on the other side," she said.

Republican leaders will have less than two weeks to find a replacement candidate before their state nominating convention on 30 May in Buffalo.

They have indicated that their next-choice to take on the first lady would be US Representative Rick Lazio.

Mr Lazio had been preparing to run for the Senate until last August, when New York Governor George Pataki endorsed the mayor's bid and asked Mr Lazio to suspend his effort.

New York has been shaken in recent weeks not only by the news of Mr Giuliani's cancer, but also by his announcement that he and his wife, actress and broadcaster Donna Hanover, are to separate.

She publicly accused him of having had an affair with a former City Hall aide.

The mayor denies that but has acknowledged a relationship with another woman, Judith Nathan.