Obama could include Republicans

Washington - President-elect Barack Obama's incoming administration could include Republicans, or even some members of the current Cabinet, a top transition aide said on Sunday.

"I think everything is a possibility right now," Obama's transition team co-chair Valerie Jarrett told NBC, when asked if the new administration would consider keeping on Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

"I think that in a sense putting together the Cabinet is like a jigsaw puzzle and he (Obama) wants to make sure that it represents the diversity of our country, diversity in perspectives, diversity in race, diversity in geography."

Asked whether the transition team would rule out keeping some members of the current Cabinet, Jarrett answered: "I wouldn't rule out anything."

Open mind

"I think that president-elect Obama has an open mind. He's looking for talent wherever he can find it and he wants to select absolutely the best team that he can find and the team will work together as a whole," she said.

"All of those pieces are going to come together and he will pick the best person for each position," said Jarrett, a close aide to Obama who served as his Senate campaign finance director in 2004.

"Throughout the campaign, president-elect Obama has talked about the importance of bipartisanship," she said.

"I'm confident his administration will include people from all perspectives."

In a separate interview, Senate Majority leader Harry Reid said he had no qualms about having Gates in the Cabinet and stressed the importance of a "good transition there".

"Why wouldn't we want to keep him? He's never been a registered Republican," Reid said on CNN.

- AFP