Rick Santorum suspends US presidential campaign

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Rick Santorum, the Republican whose longshot presidential bid last year turned into a surprisingly strong challenge to frontrunner Mitt Romney, is suspending his campaign, US media reported on Tuesday.

Campaign sources said the former Pennsylvania senator would put his campaign on hold, CNN and NBC News reported.

A Santorum capitulation at this stage would for all practical purposes assure that Romney would win the Republican nomination to challenge President Barack Obama in November.