U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has appointed three new White House
advisers, as speculation continues about his choice for secretary of
state.
Mr. Obama's transition team Saturday announced the
appointments of Valerie Jarett, Phil Schiliro, and Ron Klain to serve
on the White House staff.
Meanwhile, Mr. Obama is reportedly
considering two of his one-time Democratic rivals for the position of
top U.S. diplomat. Democratic officials, speaking anonymously, say the
president-elect met this week with Senator Hillary Clinton and New
Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
Clinton and Richardson were
both candidates for the Democratic nomination to the presidency.
Richardson dropped out of the race early, but Clinton fought a long and
often bitter contest with Mr. Obama.
Mr. Obama has not yet commented on his pick for secretary of state.
In
other news, the president-elect is to meet Monday with Republican
Senator John McCain, who lost to Mr. Obama in the presidential election.
Klain, who has worked for Vice President-elect Joseph Biden for years, will serve as the vice president's chief of staff.
Jarett,
who has worked in local government in the city of Chicago and in the
private sector, will now advise the president on intergovernment
relations and act as a public liaison.
And Schiliro, currently working on Mr. Obama's transition team, will become the president's assistant for legislative affairs.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.