Australian foreign minister Kevin Rudd quits

Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd Wednesday resigned, saying he no longer had the support of Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

He announced his resignation at a press conference in Washington.

“I cannot continue to serve as foreign minister if I do not have the prime minister’s support,” The Age newspaper’s website quoted him as saying.

“I feel very uncomfortable doing this from Washington rather than in Australia but I don’t feel I have a choice,” Rudd said.

Rudd said the reign of “faceless men” and their iron grip on the control of the Labour party leadership must end.

He said the prime minister’s failure to repudiate Simon Crean and other cabinet ministers’ attacks on him throughout the week had been central to his decision to resign as foreign minister.

“In recent days (Simon) Crean and a number of other faceless men have publicly attacked my integrity and therefore my fitness to serve as a minister in the government.

“When challenged today on these attacks, Prime Minister Gillard chose not to repudiate them.

“I can only reluctantly conclude that she therefore shares these views,” the newspaper quoted Rudd as saying.

He called the leadership brawl a “soap opera” and said he would not have “anything to do with it”.

Rudd said the “ongoing saga” was damaging the business community and “my good friend Anna Bligh” who is contesting the Queensland election.

He said he will return to Brisbane and consult his family and electorate before deciding his political future.

“There is no way I will ever be party to a stealth attack on a sitting prime minister who was elected by the people.”