Other reports suggested that in the face of her rival Barack Obama's overwhelming lead, the New York senator is taking stock of whether to fight on beyond Tuesday's final primaries.

The former first lady's campaign announced that she would hold an election night "celebration" in her home state of New York, not in the final voting states of Montana or South Dakota.

The Politico website reported that far-flung members of Clinton's travelling staff had been summoned back to New York for Tuesday evening and told their roles on the campaign are ending.

"The move is a sign that the campaign is beginning to shed – at least – some of its staff," the report said.

According to New York newspaper Newsday, Clinton is to huddle with advisers and her husband at her home in Chappaqua to monitor the final results and decide whether and how to end her campaign.

"The only real counsel to Hillary is Bill; it's not a wide circle, so we're not sure what they'll do," Newsday quoted one of Clinton's top supporters in New York as saying.

Senior Clinton advisor Harold Ickes said her camp was still making a case to "superdelegates", the top party officials who have a free vote at August's nominating convention, that she was the best potential president.

"We do not believe that by midnight tomorrow that either candidate will have the new magic number," he told MSNBC.

"We're continuing to press Hillary Clinton's case to the uncommitted," he said, shrugging off Bill Clinton's reported remarks.

Obama's campaign says he needs 43 more delegates to reach the nomination winning line of 2,118. The number was raised following a compromise reached Saturday on the status of renegade primaries in Michigan and Florida.

(China Daily via Agencies June 3, 2008)