Obama asks Hillary if she wants to be Secretary of State

Washington, Nov 15 (DPA) President-elect Barack Obama has asked former rival and New York Senator Hillary Clinton whether she would be interested in serving as his top diplomat - but stopped short of offering the job, CNN reported.

Citing unnamed Democratic sources, CNN reported that the two met in Chicago on Thursday so Obama could gauge Clinton's interest in becoming the next secretary of state.

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Clinton on Friday refused to address speculation about any positions in the Obama administration, but did not repeat previous statements that she was looking to remaining in the Senate.

'I'm not going to speculate about the president-elect's incoming administration,' Clinton told a gathering in New York, adding that any questions should be directed to Obama's transition team.

Appointing Clinton to head the State Department would bring a high-profile figure into his cabinet and further help heal wounds among Democrats over the dragged-out contest for the party's nomination.

Many Democrats who supported the former first lady refused to back Obama's candidacy for the White House.

Others names that have been the source of speculation are Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, who was the 2004 presidential nominee for the Democrats, and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.

Richard Holbrooke, who served as ambassador to the United Nations under Bill Clinton and retiring Senator Chuck Hagel, a Republican highly critical of the Bush administration's war in Iraq, are also believed to be on the list.