BOSTON (AP) Key players in his fight for the Mexico ambassadorship doubt
his chances, but Gov. William F. Weld decided to resign and take on the man
standing in his way, powerful North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms.

Weld is announcing his resignation today, effective Tuesday, a source close
to the governor told The Associated Press. Weld made his decision known at a
meeting with his wife and top advisers Sunday afternoon.

``He's very energized to go down to Washington and beat the drum on the
ambassadorship,'' said the source, who spoke on condition on anonymity. ``We
think his chances are much better than they were two weeks ago.''

But just hours before Weld convened his meeting, Senate Majority Leader Trent
Lott said the Republican governor's chances of being confirmed may have
disappeared when he criticized Helms, the head of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee.

``The biggest problem right now is Gov. Weld shot his foot off,'' Lott,
RMiss., said on NBC's ``Meet the Press.'' ``He held a news conference and
bashed the chairman of the committee that held his fate on this nomination.''

Weld, a moderate formally nominated by the White House last week, has
criticized Helms for refusing to schedule a hearing on his nomination.

Weld notified the White House of his decision to resign. A White House
source, who spoke on condition on anonymity, said Weld acted independently
and did not discuss the decision in advance.

Helms has said that Weld is unqualified for the job because he is soft on
drugs and would be representing the United States in a country considered a
major drug exporter.

In the past, Weld has supported the medical use of marijuana and a needle
exchange program for addicts.

Weld, who has little more than a year left in his second fouryear term,
would be replaced by Lt. Gov. Paul Cellucci, who would become acting governor
until 1998.

Weld's departure would give Cellucci a head start in the upcoming
gubernatorial campaign, in which he faces not only Republican opposition but
also an expected Democratic challenge from Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II, DMass.

The source said the resignation would allow Weld to focus on his nomination
full time.

``He felt it was the right thing to do for Massachusetts, even if it somewhat
diminishes his chances for the ambassadorship,'' the source said.

Two weeks ago Weld accused the conservative Helms of ``ideological
extortion'' and said his opposition has nothing to do with drug policy.

``It has everything to do with the future of the Republican Party. In plain
language, I am not Senator Helms' kind of Republican,'' Weld said.

Lott said that ``two weeks ago we might have worked something out with the
chairman,'' but that now ``I don't think his chances are very good and he
hurt himself by attacking the chairman unfairly and with political rhetoric
that was just uncalled for.''

Weld is traveling to Washington on Thursday for meetings at the State
Department. He is still hoping to meet Helms, although the White House said
last week it would not force such a meeting.

Weld, 51, served in the Reagan administration as U.S. attorney for
Massachusetts from 1981 until 1986.

He was promoted to assistant U.S. attorney general overseeing all federal
criminal investigations in the nation, but resigned in 1988 and later accused
his former boss, Attorney General Edwin Meese III, of pressuring him to end
an investigation into Reagan administration supporters.

Recently, Weld hinted that he suspected Meese may have been fueling Helms'
opposition because both travel in the same conservative Republican circles.

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