Sarah Palin to step down as governor of Alaska

Sarah Palin, former Republican US vice-presidential candidate today announced that she will resign as Alaska's governor, fuelling speculation that the charismatic leader will seek presidency in 2012.      

The sudden announcement by the 45-year-old former beauty queen, who was John McCain's running mate in last year's failed presidential campaign, will free her to build a national political team and travel the country in support of an expected bid for the White House in 2012, analysts said.      

Speaking from her home town of Wasilla, Alaska, Palin said she will not seek election to a second term in 2010. She was considered one of the front-runners for the presidential nomination in 2012.      

"I'm taking my fight for what's right in a new direction," Palin said, as her family looked on.       

Palin did not reveal what she intended to do after leaving office, and did not offer an explicit reason for her decision not to run for re-election.       

But in a written statement, she made it clear that once she had decided not to run again, she did not want to hang on in office until her term expired in 2010.       

"Once I decided not to run for re-election, I also felt that to embrace the conventional Lame Duck status in this particular climate would just be another dose of politics as usual, something I campaigned against and will always oppose," she said.