CIA director resigns: reports

CIA Director David Petraeus resigned on Friday from his post after admitting an extramarital affair, according to news reports.

Petraeus told President Barack Obama of his affair and offered his resignation during a meeting Thursday, a senior official told NBC News. NBC News had reported that Petraeus disclosed the affair in a letter released to the CIA work force on Friday afternoon, writing: "Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organisation such as ours."

In a resignation letter, Petraeus apologised for poor judgment.

In a statement, Obama said he accepted Petraeus’s resignation on Friday.

"By any measure, through his lifetime of service, David Petraeus has made our country safer and stronger," Obama said of the four-star general, who led American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.