Rove's clearing caps days of good news for his boss

Karl Rove (R) is the often referred to as Bush's brain. Picture / Reuters.

WASHINGTON - A massive burden was lifted from the shoulders of the White House yesterday, with the news that Karl Rove, President George W. Bush's key political adviser, will not face criminal charges in the inquiry into the leak of the identity of a CIA officer.

The tidings were conveyed in a letter from special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who since 2003 has been investigating an affair that has cast a heavy cloud over the Administration, amid intense speculation that Rove would be indicted.

That threat has now vanished, leaving the White House deputy chief of staff - the man often referred to as "Bush's brain" - free to devote himself entirely to plotting a strategy to save the Republican Party from defeat in the northern autumn's crucial mid-term elections, at which control of both the Senate and House of Representatives is at stake.

Even before the word of Fitzgerald's decision had come through, Rove was telling New Hampshire Republicans in a speech that they had nothing to apologise for in liberating Iraq from a tyrant, and urging the party to capitalise on the strong performance of the economy under Bush.

The exoneration of Rove caps the best week for Bush in months, following the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and the long-awaited completion of a new Government in Baghdad. These successes, the White House hopes, will not only improve the President's low approval ratings but give a much-needed boost to Republican morale.

- INDEPENDENT