Hillary Clinton emerges frontrunner in race for top US diplomat's post

Chicago: President-elect Barack Obama has met with his former rival for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and is considering her as a possible candidate for secretary of state, Democratic officials said.

Clinton was rumoured to be a contender for the job last week, but the talk died down as party activists questioned whether she was best-suited to be the top US diplomat in an Obama administration.

The talk resumed on Thursday, a day after Obama named several former aides to president Bill Clinton to help run his transition effort. A Democratic official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the two met on Thursday in Obama's Chicago office.

Clinton's motorcade - she receives Secret Service protection as a former first lady - was seen leaving the office complex shortly before Obama left for the day.

Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines would say only "Senator Clinton had no public schedule yesterday," and referred questions to the Obama transition team, which said it had no comment.