WASHINGTON, Aug 13: Top White House adviser Karl Rove, who has often been called George W. Bush's political “brain” and linked to the most controversial decisions of his presidency, said in an interview published Monday that he will resign at the end of this month.

The White House confirmed his impending departure, calling it “a big loss.” “I just think it's time,” Rove told The Wall Street Journal of the resignation, which will take effect on Aug 31.

“There’s always something that can keep you here, and as much as I'd like to be here, I’ve got to do this for the sake of my family.” No other reason was given.

White House spokesman Robert Saliterman said Rove “will be greatly missed,” adding, however, that the president’s adviser “wouldn’t be going if he wasn’t sure this was the right time to be giving more to his family, his wife Darby and their son.” An astute political operator from Texas who has been with Bush since his Texas gubernatorial campaigns of the 1990s, Rove has been under fire since 2003, when retired US diplomat Joseph Wilson claimed he had illegally leaked to the media the identity of Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, a covert CIA employee.

Although not directly involved in foreign policy decisions, Rove has been widely reported to have played a key behind-the-scenes role in persuading Congress to endorse the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.—AFP