Powell not interested in post with Obama

HONG KONG, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says he isn't interested in serving in President-elect Barack Obama's administration if asked.

"I am not interested in a position in government, nor have I been approached," Powell told The Wall Street Journal while he was traveling in Hong Kong.

The retired Army general and one-time secretary of state for President George Bush said he would be available to offer advice, but added that the Tuesday's election presaged a generational shift in the United States.

"I'm not expecting to go to government," he said.

When pressed about whether he'd lead either the Pentagon or the State Department, Powell told the Journal, "Why? I've done it. President-elect Obama has a large number of people he could look to who could be good candidates for State, Defense, or elsewhere."

Powell, an African-American and Republican, endorsed Obama in October, providing the candidate a boost when he already was pulling ahead of Republican opponent Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Powell called the election a "historic day in the United States of America, when American people voted for a new president named Barack Hussein Obama."