State Department's Nicholas Burns to resign: Rice

WASHINGTON: The third highest-ranking official at the US State Department, Nicholas Burns, is to resign from his post for personal reasons, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday.   

"He decided it was time for him to retire from the Foreign Service," Rice told, adding that Burns, who currently serves as Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, will stay in his post until March.   

Rice said Burns will "continue to work on the Indian file," particularly on the US-Indian nuclear accord which has yet to be fully implemented.