Former White House hopeful Edwards admits to affair broadcast 2230 GMT (1st Lead)

Aug 8, 2008, 21:38 GMT

Washington - Former presidential candidate John Edwards admitted Friday that he had an extramarital affair during the initial stages of his campaign for the Democratic Party's nomination.

Edwards, who was also 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry's running mate and a possibility for the spot again under Barack Obama, admitted to an affair with Rielle Hunter, a 44-year-old filmmaker who produced online documentaries for Edwards' campaign.

'In 2006, I made a serious error in judgement,' Edwards said in a statement to US news media admitting the affair. 'I was and am ashamed of my conduct and actions.'

US broadcaster ABC, which first broke the story, was to release a full interview with Edwards Friday night.

Edwards' wife Elizabeth was diagnosed in 2004 with breast cancer, which resurfaced in March 2007, this time as an incurable bone tumour.

Edwards told ABC that the cancer was in remission when he began an affair with Hunter, which reportedly went on for about two months in late 2006, before he formally announced his candidacy for president.

The couple has two school-age children and an older daughter.

Edwards said he told his wife soon after the affair in 2006, but admitted fighting to have kept it out of the public eye.

He had categorically denied media reports of the affair during his campaign for the White House, and the exact details of the relationship were still unclear. Edwards confirmed to ABC that he had visited Hunter at a Los Angeles hotel as late as last month.

Edwards denied that he was the father of a child that Hunter gave birth to in February and was planning to take a paternity test to prove the fact. A former campaign aide, Andrew Young, has reportedly admitted to fathering the child.

Edwards ended his campaign for the Democratic nomination in February.

At an event in Las Vegas, Nevada, his one-time rival Hillary Clinton said: 'My thoughts and prayers are with the Edwards family.'