US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton overtook her rival, Barack Obama, in a latest national poll released yesterday.

According to the Gallup poll conducted from March 14 to 18,about 48 percent of 1,209 American adults surveyed favors New York Senator Clinton to be the party's presidential nominee, five percentage points more than Illinois Senator Obama.

The poll has an error margin of 3 percentage points.

Gallup said that it was the first statistically significant lead for Clinton over Obama since a daily tracking poll conducted Feb. 7 to 9, days after the Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses.

The lead coincided with controversy caused by Obama's relations with his long-time Chicago pastor, Jeremiah Wright, who has been heard criticizing the US government for its "racist policies."

Although Obama made a major speech on Tuesday on the race issue, hoping to move past the controversy, the polling numbers have not shown immediate benefit for him, Gallup said.

However, Obama still maintained a lead in the number of delegates who would vote for him at the nomination convention over Clinton by 1,621 to 1,479.

The survey also indicated that voters moved closer to Republican presumptive presidential nominee John McCain, who has a lead of 47 percent to 43 percent over Obama and holds an edge of48 percent to 45 percent over Clinton.