WASHINGTON - White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, the public face of the Bush administration through two wars and a terrorist attack, said Monday he will resign in July to enter the private sector. His replacement will likely be deputy press secretary Scott McLellan.

"I've decided my time has come to leave the White House," Fleischer said in a telephone interview.

The spokesman said he wanted to leave the hard-driving job before President Bush's re-election campaign geared up.

© 2003 The Associated Press

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