Republican US Sen Craig to resign amid scandal

BOISE, Idaho, Sept 1 (Reuters) Long-serving Republican Sen Larry Craig of Idaho, embroiled in a sex scandal and lacking support from his party, said today he will resign from the US Senate.

''To Idahoans I represent, to my staff, to my Senate colleagues, but most importantly to my wife and family, I apologise for what I have caused. I am deeply sorry,'' Craig, 62, said at a news conference.

The three-term senator said he would step down September 30.

The departure capped a week of controversy for Republicans, already reeling from ethics problems, with the disclosure Craig had pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge in an undercover investigation of lewd behavior in a men's airport restroom.

Republican Idaho Gov C L ''Butch'' Otter will pick a successor to complete Craig's term, which runs through next year. He was expected to choose a Republican and maintain the current 51-49 Democratic control of the Senate.

Craig, who was elected to the Senate in 1990, is ending his career after the revelations on Monday of his guilty plea. He was arrested June 11 at the Minneapolis-St Paul airport restroom, where police were targeting public sex. Craig was in the airport on the way to Washington that day.

Craig said he regretted pleading guilty to the misdemeanor while maintaining he did nothing wrong.

''I am not gay, I never have been gay,'' he said on Tuesday, with his wife at his side. They have three children.

DENYING ALLEGATIONS Sporadically during his Washington career, which began in the US House of Representatives in 1981, Craig found himself denying allegations he was a homosexual.

At the same time, the conservative senator opposed gay rights, and voted in favor of an amendment to the US Constitution to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

Craig said today he felt he should resign from the Senate to pursue legal options in the case.

''The people of Idaho deserve a senator who can devote 100 percent of the time and effort to the critical issues of our state and of our nation,'' he said.

''I have little control over what people choose to believe, but clearing my name is important to me and my family.'' Craig saw much of his party abandon him during the week as Republicans sought to distance themselves from the scandal.

Top Senate Republicans called for a Senate Ethics Committee probe of Craig and asked him to step down temporarily from his key committee assignments.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky in a statement said Craig ''made a difficult decision, but the right one. It is my hope he will be remembered not for this, but for his three decades of dedicated public service.'' At the news conference, Craig thanked the several officials who appeared with him on the podium, adding, ''For any public official at this moment in time to be standing with Larry Craig is in itself a humbling experience.'' The Republican National Committee was on the verge of urging Craig to step downton yesterday and top Idaho Republicans also urged him to quit, a party aide said.

''He has been forced out, essentially,'' the aide said on condition of anonymity. ''This is what we all want.'' Democrats won control of Congress in last year's elections partly because of Republican scandals, including bribery and one lawmaker making unwanted advances on teenage interns.

Republicans have been wracked by more scandals this year, including an investigation of Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, the longest-serving Republican in Senate history, and by Louisiana Sen. David Vitter's admission of a ''serious sin'' after he was linked to an escort service that police described as a prostitution ring.

REUTERS PY RAI2326