PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIAL<br/> <br />She was tipped as a frontrunner for the post of U.S. secretary of state, but after weeks of criticism Susan Rice has dropped out of the race.<br/> <br />In a letter to President Obama, Rice withdrew her name as a candidate to take over from Hillary Clinton, saying she wants to avoid a lengthy and costly battle in the Senate.<br/> <br />The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations drew heavy fire from Republicans after comments she made about the attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, which left four Americans dead.<br/> <br />On several TV channels Rice said the assault was due to protests over an anti-Muslim film.<br/> <br />Officials later said militants linked to al Qaeda were involved, and acknowledged that there were no protests.<br/> <br />SOUNDBITE: SUSAN RICE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N., SAYING (English):<br/> <br />"When discussing the attacks against our facilities in Benghazi, I relied solely and squarely on the information provided to me by the intelligence community. I made clear that the information was preliminary and that our investigations would give us the definitive answers."<br/> <br />Analysts say that with Rice out of the picture, Obama will likely turn to Senator John Kerry to take up the role.
