SYDNEY (AFP) - Former foreign minister Alexander Downer, who juggled Australia's historic ties to the West with its Asian ambitions for more than a decade, announced his retirement from politics Thursday.

Downer, one of the most visible supporters of US President George W. Bush's war in Iraq, served in John Howard's conservative government from 1996 until it was ousted by the centre-left Labor Party last November.

The 56-year-old told reporters he would quit on July 14 after 24 years as Liberal Party member of parliament for Mayo in the South Australian capital of Adelaide because "it is time to move on."

Downer said he was keen to take up a post as United Nations special envoy for Cyprus but the role had not yet been confirmed by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The scion of a prominent South Australian family with a long history in politics, he also plans to join an Adelaide consultancy firm and take up a part-time position at Adelaide University's School of History.

Downer, hailed in The Australian newspaper this week as a "Warrior Statesman" but seen by some critics at home and in Asia as pompous and arrogant, said he had no regrets about his political career.

"I don't really have regrets. I just feel that I did my best, I worked incredibly hard and I argued for the things I believed in," he said.

The former foreign minister, like Howard, was a staunch supporter of Bush and the "coalition of the willing" which invaded Iraq in March 2003.

Australian commandos were among the first coalition troops to cross into Iraq, but as the war dragged on the role of the main Australian force was limited and no soldiers were killed in combat.

Downer still defends the decision to enter the war, while new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd last month withdrew the nation's 550-strong combat force from its base at Tallil south of Baghdad.

During nearly 12 years as foreign minister, Downer balanced Australia's traditional loyalties to Britain and the US with its modern desire for engagement with the growing economies of its Asian neighbours.

It was not always easy, with former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad in particular scorning Australia's aspirations to join regional groupings, calling the nation a foreign implant and the "deputy sheriff" of the US in Asia.

Downer also faced outrage over Howard's doctrine allowing for pre-emptive strikes against terror threats from neighbouring countries in the wake of the 2002 Bali bombings in Indonesia which killed 88 Australians.

In mid-2005, desperate to attend the inaugural East Asia summit in Kuala Lumpur, Australia bowed to a key demand for an invitation and signed a non-aggression treaty with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

And in announcing his resignation, Downer pointed to an Asian event as the highlight of his career, saying that helping East Timor win independence was the greatest achievement in his political life.

"I helped to free the people of East Timor and I would single that out as my greatest achievement. But there were a lot of things that I did that I'm proud of," he said.

Australia headed a peacekeeping force that played a key role in the former Portuguese colony's independence from Indonesia in 2002.

An editorial in The Australian newspaper said the fact that the government was able to steady the relationship with Indonesia afterwards "owed much to Mr Downer's skill and energy".

Downer could also take credit for the fact that while Australia's relations with the US reached a new closeness under his watch, he had also nurtured ties with China, Japan and India, The Australian said.

Many Australians, however, might remembered Downer best for the time he donned fishnet stockings and high heels for charity -- a gaffe which cartoonists never let the portly foreign minister forget.

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