Senator Joseph Lieberman has become the latest Democratic candidate to announce his intention to run for the US presidency in 2004.

"I am ready to announce today that I am a candidate for president of the United States, and I intend to win," he said on Monday.

Lieberman said he would not stand against Al Gore

Al Gore's running mate in the 2000 presidential election and Connecticut senator since 1988, Mr Lieberman becomes the first ever Jewish presidential candidate for a major party.

He said he was running to "make the American Dream real again."

"Two years ago, we were promised a better America, but that promise has not been kept," he told students at his old high school, Stamford High.

Crowded field

The Democrats lost the presidency to George W Bush in 2000, in the closest ever battle for the White House.

Mr Lieberman had stressed he would not run for the 2004 presidency if Al Gore chose to run again, but Mr Gore announced in December that he was bowing out of the race.

Mr Lieberman joins an already crowded field. Vermont Governor Howard Dean, Missouri Representative Dick Gephardt, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry and North Carolina Senator John Edwards are also running.

Mr Lieberman was known, but not well-known, before he was picked to be Al Gore's running mate in 2000.

As the vice presidential candidate, he raised the profile of the Orthodox Jewish faith, and refused to campaign on Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath.

A centrist Democrat, he has clashed with President Bush on a number of issues, including probes into the bankrupt Enron Corporation and plans for the new Department of Homeland Security.

He is also known for his campaign against violent images in the media, and was a strong supporter of the Gulf War.