US senator announces resignation over bathroom incident (1st Lead)

Sep 1, 2007, 17:01 GMT

Washington - A US senator announced his resignation Saturday after pleading guilty to charges of disorderly conduct in a men's airport bathroom.

Idaho Republican Senator Larry Craig said at a televised press conference in his home state that he would leave his position on September 30.

A number of politicians, including many from his own party, had been openly calling for Craig to resign since the details of his arrest at a Minneapolis airport emerged on Monday.

Craig apologized that the debacle had distracted him from his political duties, saying the 'people of Idaho deserve a senator who can devote 100 per cent of his efforts' to his job.

His announcement that he would step down brought jeers from the crowd, as well as cries of 'We love you Larry' from supporters.

Craig, 62, was arrested in June in a police sting operation over lewd behaviour and sexual activity in one of the airport's public bathrooms. He pleaded guilty in August to a lesser charge - disorderly conduct - and paid a 500-dollar fine, according to the Capitol Hill publication Roll Call, which broke the story.

Craig was also sentenced to 10 days in jail, which were suspended, and given a year's probation.

Republican leaders on Wednesday stripped Craig of his committee posts in the Senate and had reportedly drafted a statement calling for him to resign, the Washington Post reported. The statement was held back because local Idaho Republicans warned it may have had the opposite effect of making his departure more difficult.

He had already resigned from a top post in Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's campaign.

The state's Republican governor will appoint a replacement to fill Craig's seat for the remainder of his term.

Craig on Tuesday made a public apology for bringing a 'cloud' over his home state, and said he regretted his guilty plea.

'I did nothing wrong at the Minneapolis airport ... and I regret the decision to plead guilty,' Craig said Tuesday. 'I am not gay, I never have been gay.'

Details of Craig's unsavoury episode dominated US news programmes, newspapers and websites, and pressure for him to step down only increased after an audio tape was released of Craig's interrogation by Minneapolis police.